Resplendence of Ebony
by Extrinsical
Summary: Part III of the Dēcadent Series. It's one full circle. N/F
1. I

Posted: 26/09/2007  
1st Revision: 20/08/2008

Notes:

1. RoE is a sequel to _White Devil_. It may not appear to be so at the moment, but references will show itself in later chapters. It is also heavily referenced to _Ode to Darkness_ despite the fact it's not _quite_ a sequel to said fiction as it is set before OTD. Nonetheless, it may get confusing if that fic is not read first. The end results of this fic also did not quite turn out to be what happened in OTD, so I suppose a better word would be that RoE is _based_ on the main theme of OTD. Either way, I would really prefer it if you've read OTD and WD before this.

2. I refuse to use "A**l**f" an "Zafi**l**a" for this fic. For any of my fics, for that matter. I will instead use "Arf" and 'Zafira." Case closed.

3. Rein aside, StrikerS characters does not exist here.

4. TSAB is corrupted here. There is not...really...any logical reason why, but there _might_ be if I actually try hard enough. However, I've no interest in finding a reason as it takes too much effort, and also because the bureau plays only a small (despite it significant) role here.

5. Song below can be found in LJ. Other than that...sit back, and enjoy.

-o-

_**Resplendence of Ebony  
**__Part I_

_"Nephilim,"__  
- Yasunori Mitsuda, Xenosaga OST._

-o-

When she felt the threads of magic that connected the two of them being pulled, she knew something was wrong.

When the telepathic contact that she desperately held onto faded, she knew it was too late.

And when the bond was severed, she lashed out; first from the waves of agony that hit her when she felt it forcefully broken and shattered, then from the realization that sunk in a second later.

Soul bond: A connection of heart and mind. Something so precious and sacred it could kill its partner if the other was destroyed.

Arf died.

And she broke.

She didn't die, but something in her broke.

-o-

Magic.

Long, wavy strands of magic flowed through her veins, her blood; like fresh water in a steady stream, before they pooled in her linker core.

It was unfamiliar and familiar.

A foreign sensation in her body, and yet not.

It was something she had never felt before - _or had she? _- but her whole body seemed to recognize the warmth flowing through her.

And yet..

Burgundy eyes opened to see a grey ceiling, cracked and worn with age.

The blonde sat up, slowly; and grimaced when she felt the dull throb on her bruised hands and body.

_What..._

Her throat felt parched and dry. How long was she asleep?

Slow footsteps.

She glanced up.

The soft tapping of feet jerked to a stop.

"You're awake..."

Slate blue eyes; soft, concerned...brimming with tears.

The name came to her before she even realized who it was.

"Nanoha..."

The brunette flung herself towards her without warning, and her hands moved to Nanoha's waist to steady them both before her back could hit the wall.

"You're okay..." Cracking voice. She felt Nanoha's grip on her tighten protectively, and she automatically moved to rub the other's back in a reassuring gesture.

"I...what's...wrong?" Confusion. "How did I..."

She stopped. Her motions froze.

As if those words were all the trigger she needed, she remembered.

She remembered.

Arf.

Bile rose in her throat; nausea settled in her stomach.

She was suddenly dizzy, and dull pressure forced its way into her brain.

Arf. Arf. Arf.

And Nanoha was too near, too _close._

"Fate-chan..?"

The blonde _shoved_ Nanoha away, and had only a moment of intense regret when the brunette hit the wall hard, a wince forming on that face, before she threw up water - acid water - on the cement floor. As if her stomach was empty of nourishments.

When was the last time she had eaten?

There was a sharp, sour taste in her mouth, and she choked and coughed. Her dry throat burned with pain. One hand clenched tightly on her loose black shirt, as if trying to calm the erratic heartbeat that pounded against her chest uncomfortably, and the other hand curled into a tight fist on the bed.

Arf.

Arf.

Oh, god. Arf...

Dead.

Her familiar was _dead_.

_Her partner was dead dead dead dead - _

More bile rose up her throat.

But there wasn't anything else she could get out.

Her vision blurred, even as she hacked air out of her throat.

She felt cold. She felt numb.

And there was something so different; something_ missing_.

The warmth - the lingering warmth that she once knew - was there, just _there_, but she couldn't reach it, couldn't grasp it.

It was _gone_.

She couldn't think.

"Fate - "

Black spots appeared in her vision.

"Fate-chan!"

She blacked out, and felt only the faint sensation of slender hands catching her before she could hit the floor.

-o-

_"...Lash back...severed connection..."_

_"..she...fine? Shamal-san..."_

_"I don't...depends...her..."_

What...?

She felt soft cotton, damp and refreshingly cold, dabbed on her face.

_"Be fine...please..."_

...Nanoha?

More voices.

"_There's something...don't know...Master Hayate is..."_

_"...Testarossa...duel...no longer any chance..."_

Duel? ...Signum?

_"...Stay strong...for all of us..."_

-o-

Fate jerked awake.

Her breathing was harsh, and the collar of her shirt felt damp; soaked with cold sweat.

There was a soothing hand on her back.

A glass of water was pressed to her lips gently.

"Drink." A quiet command.

She did. Little sips of cool, fresh water soothed her dry throat, and then her empty stomach was suddenly demanding more, grabbing that hand to tilt the cup further, gulping down the remaining water in just a short few seconds.

But her breathing was still heavy.

"Slowly," that soft voice said. A hand rubbed her back gently. "Deep breaths, Fate-chan. Deep breaths."

The blonde forced herself to calm down and follow those words.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe.

Her mind was regaining clarity.

She turned.

Blue eyes.

Sad, sad blue eyes...

"Nanoha..."

There was a weak smile on the brunette's face.

"How're you feeling?" The girl in ponytail released her - and she was suddenly missing the faint warmth - and placed the cup on the side table.

"I'm..." Arf. Arf. Arf. "...fine."

She wasn't.

Nanoha didn't call her bluff.

Instead, she said, "You have been sleeping for three days." A pause. "There were moments when you woke shortly, but you returned to sleep soon after."

The blonde didn't remember that. But she did remember the one time she threw up.

She saw a bandage wrapped on Nanoha's elbow, stretching halfway to her wrist.

"...Your hand..."

Nanoha blinked, then glanced down, and hid her arm behind her back instantly. "I - it's nothing." There was a forced grin on that face. "I was...careless, that's all."

That was a lie.

A lie so blatant that even Fate would know.

"...Really?" Burgundy eyes searched sad blue. _Don't lie to me_.

The brunette turned away instead of answering.

She should have felt hurt, and perhaps she did, but all she felt was emptiness.

Maybe she wanted to get hurt.

Fate grasped the other so quickly Nanoha couldn't react, and the bed creaked with the sudden movement.

"Fate - " A surprised gasp.

She was above the brunette, one hand pinning a wrist to the bed, the other gripping that bandaged arm tightly.

"F-Fate-chan, that..." Nanoha winced. It must have hurt.

"Who?" The blonde asked once, and only once.

She knew. She remembered.

But she had to ask.

"It wasn't - "

Her hold tightened, and the other drew in a sharp breath, pain more apparent on that face now.

The bandage felt damp under her fingers.

"F-Fate! That - stop - that hurts..!"

"Then tell me who!" Harsh words.

"NO ONE!"

And there was silence.

Cold burgundy pierced into furious blue.

How long it lasted, she had no idea.

"...Let go." Nanoha broke the silence; soft, quiet, unreadable words reverberating in the air. "...You're hurting me."

She did, hand moving to press on the bed. The sheet was smeared a faint red.

Silence.

Once more, it was the brunette who spoke first.

"I can't get up like this, Fate-chan."

Instead of responding, the blonde said, "I remember."

Nanoha stiffened.

"I remember," she repeated.

She remembered lashing out.

She remembered destruction.

She remembered fighting.

She remembered blood.

"..._I_ did that to you, didn't I?"

The flash of emotion in Nanoha's blue eyes was all she needed for an answer.

Suddenly, the hand pressed to the bed did not feel so steady anymore.

Her mind whirled with memories. Scenes. Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

She was dizzy.

She felt faint.

She hurt _her_.

She _scarred_ -

"NO!"

She jerked at the sudden shout.

"No," warm hands - when did she escape her grasp? - were on her face, holding her there; forcing her to look into furious, beautiful blue eyes. "It's not your fault. It's not. It's not!" Vehement words.

"I hurt you," her retort was ragged and hoarse and _disbelieving_, "I _hurt_ you."

"It wasn't your fault - "

"What did Shamal say about the wound?" She wanted to know. She needed to know. It was her - her Bardiche Zamber - that slashed at Nanoha's arm...

The brunette bit her lip.

The ruthlessly logical part of Fate's mind was already calculating.

Three days.

Three days since Arf died.

It had been three days, but that injury had not healed.

It was still bleeding.

Shamal's magic had not been totally effective.

"...How deep was the wound?" whispered Fate.

"Fate-chan.."

Curative magic can only go so far.

And if it couldn't heal properly...

The blonde grabbed the hand - the bandaged one - on her face.

"How deep was it?" she repeated, words louder now, but hoarse and shaking.

Nanoha didn't answer, and looked away.

Fate reached for that little knot which held the bandage in place.

Blue eyes that saw her movements turned horrified.

"No - " Nanoha tried to take her hand back and escape.

But she was faster, sitting up, pressing her to the bed as a knee pinned the other arm.

"Don't - Fate-chan, don't - " There was a grimace on the brunette's features when Fate's fingers glided along the bandage, and she tried to resist, but the blonde had her wrist in a vice-like grip.

Nanoha should have had enough strength to pull her hand away despite the tight hold, but she didn't. _Couldn't._

Her featherlike touch on the bandage shouldn't have hurt that much if it was just some scratch, but the pain on that face said different things.

She unrolled the bandage, dropping the red-stained cloth onto the bed.

Then she stared.

Just stared.

It was at least five inches long, running along her hand.

Jagged, and burnt. Fried from Zamber's natural element: Electricity.

And the wound was still open, white flesh and dark red liquid mixing together horribly..._disgustingly_.

Her mind was blank.

"Fate..."

What had she...done?

What had she...

-o-

Lindy. Chrono. Amy.

And...Arf.

They were gone - her family, her remaining family.

Dead.

In the hands of TSAB.

But she felt nothing.

Just numb, and strangely hollow.

"...Hayate-chan and Rein-chan had gone missing," Nanoha was saying; voice soft and quiet. "Signum-san, Shamal-san, Vita-chan and Zafira-san are looking for them now but..."

She didn't respond, continuing her work on that hand, wrapping a fresh bandage around that gaping wound.

"Fate-chan.."

A quick knot was tied, tightened with gentle pressure; but not enough to hurt the other.

"Answer me, Fate-chan."

The first-aid kid was shut and placed on the table.

Nanoha grabbed the other's hand before she could - _run_ - move.

"_Please_." A bare whisper.

She was still.

There was a weight on her back, so familiar and heavy all the same.

Brown hair tickled the back of her neck.

She felt water soak through her thin shirt.

"Fate-chan..." Soft, cracking, watery voice.

But she couldn't.

She had failed.

She did the very thing she swore not to do.

She didn't deserve it.

"...Please..."

But Nanoha needed her.

And that was all it took for her to respond.

She never did forgive herself for what she did then.

The blonde turned, one hand caressing that damp cheek, saw surprise flicker in blue eyes, and crushed their lips together.

It was far from her usual gentle gestures; hard and harsh, invasive and almost violent.

Hands went around her neck, tangling with blonde hair, and they fell back to the bed.

Fate hated herself for giving in.

Deft fingers unbuttoned Nanoha's shirt.

Even more when she knew what they were doing would hurt her - _them._

-o-

Devoured.

That was probably the word to use.

It was far from innocent.

She was pouring - _bleeding_ - in all she had, and she was devouring all the same.

Breath was stolen, words were cut off, and thoughts were taken.

She marveled at that clouded, hazy, flushed expression on Nanoha's face, knowing she was the only one who made her like _this_, and hated herself for it.

She wanted Nanoha to hate her.

She wanted Nanoha to loathe her.

She wanted Nanoha to scorn her.

But calm, subdued ocean blue were only accepting.

She couldn't agree with that.

So she didn't stop.

Didn't stop when pain begun to fill those gasps, didn't stop when tears pooled at the corner of those eyes.

She muffled the cries with her mouth - _because she didn't want to hear them - _tasted _her_ with a degree of desperation and hunger she never had before; felt the slender frame beneath her tremble and shiver with her every touch, felt it jerk and shudder involuntarily as she changed the rhythm from slow to fast to furious.

But there were no complaints, no resisting, no requests for her to slow down.

_She_ was just taking everything that was forced onto her.

_nibbles, reddening skin, bite marks, small little bruises_

Nanoha was stubborn in many ways.

She knew that.

And because she knew, she asked.

"Why?" Her soft tone was ragged and hurt and pained.

No matter what she did, how much she did...

Hot breaths mingled.

Blue eyes, clouded and calm and intense all the same, looked back.

"Why?" she repeated, voice a hoarse whisper.

...always, always...

Her finger moved on its own accord, grazing against the tears on that cheek gently, brushing away damp locks of brown hair that stuck to the skin.

Nanoha just gazed back, with those dark, beautiful electric blue eyes.

The same pair that always pulled her into another world, away from her realm of chilly darkness.

The same pair that always saved her.

And the same pair that always,_ always_...

"Because you couldn't cry." Couldn't, not wouldn't. Couldn't.

...reminded her it was alright to be weak.

For a moment, she could only stare, unable to decipher those words.

Because she couldn't cry, Nanoha cried for her.

Because she was numb, Nanoha felt the pain in her place.

That meant Nanoha knew. She _knew_ what Fate was trying to do.

Warm, gentle hands were on her face.

Trembling fingers. Sweat-soaked flushed skin and drowsiness that entered blue eyes. She had used - _played_ - her till Nanoha was spent and sore; and still...

"Baka ne...Fate-chan." There was a soft, tired, _kind_ smile on Nanoha's features.

She was. She was.

And she was crying now, even as the brunette tugged her down lightly, _weakly_, and she didn't resist, and Nanoha pressed their lips together.

-o-

A/N:

...Nothing to say here, really. Update on subsequent chapters may take a bit of time. While I'm _fairly_ certain I won't make changes to them anymore aside from odd lines here and there, I'm kind of hesitant until I've actually finished the epilogue - which is, as of yet, incomplete. Or at least till I get feedback from beta that the chapter(s) looks fine, odd sentences and stuff aside.

Hence I should say reviews are inspiring. Reviews are FOOD for the writer. So. -_points you to the review button-_

Till next time.  
-Aki


	2. II

Posted: 02/11/2007  
1st Revision: 20/08/2008

Song available in LJ. Rating changed to M due to a strongly suggestive scene.

-o-

_**Resplendence of Ebony  
**__Part II_

_"Wasureranai"  
- Onegai Twins, Image Soundtrack: Soleil._

_Don't forget._

-o-

Something prickled at the back of her mind.

So very faint, yet...

Blue eyes opened, only to make her grimace at the sunlight pouring into the room.

She tried to sit up, and staggered, one hand on the bed to support her weight, the other pressed to her heavy head.

She felt extremely fatigued.

Disoriented.

She tried to focus, blurry vision regaining clarity.

Her muscles felt so very overused.

She was sore. Very sore.

Pleasantly and almost painfully sore.

And naked, though that word had not sunk in enough for her to actually act on her modesty.

But...

Ah.

Fate..

Her gaze darted to the space next to her.

Empty.

"Fate-chan...?"

She glanced around the bare room, which had only a side table, and the bed.

For one moment, just one brief moment, paranoia entered her mind.

The blonde couldn't have just...left...

Or could she?

Fear snaked around her, and her fingers curled into a fist.

"Fate.."

The door opened.

Calm, clear burgundy eyes blinked at her.

Surprised, but clear.

She stared back.

Blonde hair fell loosely behind Fate, the black ribbon - _destroyed that day_ - long gone. Stray locks brushed over her shoulder, down to the front of that simple black shirt; slightly crumpled with sleeves rolled up. Black pants hugged her legs loosely.

Black, thought Nanoha randomly. That color seemed to fit Fate so well.

Then a slight - _shallow_ - smile formed on that face, head tilting slightly.

"You're awake, Nanoha." She lifted a hand carrying a plastic bag. "It's just past noon. I went out to grab some lunch just now. Hungry?"

The military-trained part of her mind realized instantly what the prickling at the back of her mind was. It was the bypassing of the barrier she had put up.

But noon?

How long had she been sleeping?

There was a pause when Fate blinked again. Stared, then blinked another time.

Then she turned her head to a side, cheeks flushing.

"Fate-chan?"

"...Um...ah..." Stammering.

Nanoha looked at her curiously.

The blonde quickly made her escape.

"I will put the food on the table," Fate said hastily, backing out of the room, face red, "Come after you've...dressed and freshened up."

The lightning mage disappeared.

Dressed?

She glanced down.

Then blushed.

Then fell into a fit of giggles when another realization hit her.

Despite what happened, despite the fact the blonde had yet to heal from recent, scarring events, she was - and had always been - so shy.

Suddenly, a weight she never knew was there seemed to lift off her shoulders; and her lips curled into a soft smile, hands wrapping around her knees.

-o-

They ate in silence.

A somehow comfortable and awkward silence.

Nanoha was very obviously still tired, not even bothering to tie up her hair.

And Fate was...mulling over things.

Her family's death was shoved to the back of her mind forcefully.

The food tasted like ash in her mouth, but she ate, still; because she knew Nanoha would get on her case, and she would be _damned_ if she were to hurt her _again_.

And the reminder dampened her already solemn mood.

She still didn't know if Nanoha was...

"Fate-chan?"

She glanced up to see a pair of eyes that seemed to pierce deep into her.

Nanoha was just...staring...with that...unreadable gaze.

"...Yes?" the blonde asked hesitantly.

Blue eyes narrowed at her.

"Something's bothering you." The words came out more like an accusation than anything else.

And Fate knew the brunette wasn't talking about her - _dead_ - family.

That was an already obvious fact, and Nanoha was not someone who would rub salt in the wound.

"I..." She paused, then sighed. The spoon was placed back on the plate with a soft clank.

The brunette wouldn't appreciate lies or evasive answers now, and she knew that.

"...Fate-chan?"

"Ah...well..." She was suddenly finding interest in the bland, grey floor. "...Are you okay?"

"The injury's not hurting, if that's what you mean." Nanoha ventured, as if she had a feeling that wasn't quite what Fate was referring to.

Burgundy eyes darkened, a moment of intense regret and self-loathing filling her - then Nanoha's face was right in front of her, and she jerked back into the chair in surprise.

The brunette had, somewhere along the way, shifted her own seat closer. She grasped the armrests on Fate's chair and yanked it around to face her before the other could react, nearly toppling her to the floor in the process. The blonde sat stock still, and was frozen when Nanoha's face was suddenly inches from her own, arms trapping her in the middle.

Silence.

Blue eyes narrowed at her, and she sunk back into the chair.

"...N-Nanoha...?"

"Out with it. What is it?"

"I...um..." That gaze was making her lose focus, and she couldn't speak.

A finger tapped at her nose threateningly.

"Say it."

"A-are you...okay?" she half-stammered, cheeks reddening. "I mean, yesterday..." She halted, and this time sadness entered her faint voice. "I...I was..."

Understanding dawned in the brunette's eyes.

But Nanoha was quiet, and that left her with no choice but to continue.

That gaze was piercing, and she looked down.

"...I was rough on you." Disgust. Regret. Guilt. "I...hurt you."

Not once, not twice. More than that. And not just in one way.

Silence.

Fingers caressed her face.

That hand forced her to look up and into cool slate blue.

The expression on Nanoha's face was unreadable.

Unpredictable.

And then she spoke.

"I...am sore," the brunette said. "Very sore, from last night."

A pause.

"And at some point...it did hurt."

Brown eyebrows creased.

That voice was suddenly softer, but just as undecipherable.

"It hurt. Really, really hurt..."

Fate's throat was dry, unbelievably so.

She felt like she was drowning, caught in a gaze of ocean blue; intense and calm all the same.

But those words were piercing, even when they were quiet and gentle.

It hurt.

Something deep in her chest clenched tightly at those words.

Of course it would have hurt.

The things she had done...

"So, now..."

A finger was moving across her face with a feather-light touch.

And then...

Nanoha pinched her cheek.

And twisted once.

Sharp pain and surprise jolted through her.

"!!"

"...This is your punishment." Mischief suddenly appeared in blue eyes, and there was a little smirk on the brunette's face.

The fingers left her face, and Fate rubbed at her reddened cheek, shrinking in bewilderment at the glare directed at her.

"N - Nanoha..?"

"Did you know how hard you bit me?" There was accusation and mock-anger in that tone.

She could only blink.

Bit?

"It hurt, you know." She tapped at her...breast. Slightly above the middle of...it. _It_. Just _very_ slightly. "There's still a mark there."

For a few seconds, her brain could not process those words.

Then realization dawned.

...Oh.

Fate turned beet red.

"It's going to take a while before it goes away, I think. And that's not the only place you bit so hard." Nanoha continued, which made that face turn redder, if that was even possible.

A finger poked her nose again. "And it's all your fault."

Blue eyes narrowed at her.

"I...uh..." She couldn't respond. She didn't know how to respond, flustered as she was.

"...But I'm glad."

Blink.

The amusement and mischief disappeared from Nanoha's features.

Slate blue eyes were suddenly subdued and intense all the same. Almost fearful - _for her _- and concerned...

Brown hair tickled her chin when Nanoha leaned against her, face buried in the curve of her neck.

"...You scared me." The brunette's voice was a whisper. "You scared me so much yesterday..."

Almost trembling.

Was it the way she turned stone cold that scared Nanoha?

Or was it the intensity and desperation in her hunger that scared Nanoha?

The fingers that clutched at her shirt crumpled the fabric.

"I...I'm sorry." The blonde forced the words out, regret and pain so clear in her voice.

What else could she say?

She couldn't turn back time.

She couldn't change what happened.

She couldn't stop herself from hurting _her._

Dampness on her neck.

As if that was what spurred her into moving, her hands wrapped around that slender figure.

"...I'm sorry." Her whisper was soft, regretful, and begging; begging the brunette to stop crying.

Nanoha was shaking her head fervently.

And the blonde could only repeat the same words again and again, her hold tightening.

Protectively.

_Possessively_.

-o-

News came in the most unexpected form later that afternoon.

A little ferret.

But it wasn't Yuuno.

"A memory card...?" Nanoha's eyebrows creased, even as she caressed the top of the ferret's head lightly.

"So it seems..." The blonde fingered the tiny card in her hand.

It was smart - very smart - of Yuuno to make use of a small animal; agile and small, in addition to avoiding the usage of magic that could be detected.

But when she saw the faint hint of smeared blood on the card, she froze. So faint it was almost unnoticeable.

"Fate-chan?"

The blonde took a deep breath, and forced neutrality into her words. "Let's...see what he has to show us."

The card was inserted into the laptop.

"...A text file," she paused, scanning the folder provided by the card. "Some pictures...and that's it."

A shadow moved behind her, and she felt herself stiffen involuntarily. She saw the little ferret scampering out of the room from the corner of her eyes.

"The text file first, then," Nanoha said, voice sober and serious.

"Ah."

A hand rested on her shoulder.

She clicked the text file.

The weight that hovered behind her felt _almost _warm, as if it was just beyond her reach, offering only a tease, a ghost of a touch.

The blonde forced the memory of - _the overwhelming heat, straying hands, clashing tongues -_ yesterday to the back of her mind, and focused.

_02 September 1436._

That date. It was...yesterday.

_Yuuno here._

_I'm sorry I couldn't come in contact earlier. Things are hectic here, and the Infinite Library is in disarray. The higher-ups are demanding the turnover of all knowledge we have...and failing that, death._

The grip on her shoulder tightened.

_I do not have much time. Even now, they are watching our every move._

Especially him, he did not say, but the words hovered in the air. He was the chief of the library...and more importantly, he was their childhood friend. He was...someone closely linked to them.

He did not have much time. Not at all.

_As we have all suspected, there was something going very wrong with TSAB...though it wasn't proven till..._

A hesitation. As though Yuuno was there talking to them, they felt the hesitation.

_...Three days ago. _

Her fingers curled into a tight fist.

He did not mention the deaths.

_And that seemed to be when the corrupted officers of TSAB showed themselves. Along with this card, I've copied __pictures of the several that I have identified __to be of the corrupted. But as for the reason...I'm afraid I don't know. All I could tell was that this was something that had been going on for a while, and before we noticed, they just...struck._

Struck.

They just...struck, was it?

Sudden bitterness filled her.

_I've also tried to locate Hayate and Rein, but with no success. She is not in the headquarters, that much I can say for certain. Regius of the Ground Forces had demanded all knowledge regarding the Book of Darkness from the library; I can only guess that her disappearance had something to do with him. _

_His patience is thinning, with each day I fail to provide sufficient information..._

The hand on her shoulder began to shake.

_Find her, quickly...There is only so much information I can hold back, and not all of it is known to me alone. There are others in the library who know fractions of what I do. _

_I do not think there's much time left for her. _

Or for me, he did not say.

She remembered the blood she saw on the card.

_Nanoha. Go to your family. As quickly as you can, but quietly. Do not let them find you._

She heard the sharp intake of breath behind her.

_My clan had been held hostage in return for my knowledge. The chances of them taking your family in return for you are...there__._

Again, the hesitation.

She had expected the word _high_, but he had said _there_.

_I have to go. _

_These are...__my last words._ Because he was denying TSAB the knowledge they wanted.

_Be safe, all of you._

_And I'm sorry._

_Yuuno Scrya._

The hand on her shoulder was shaking.

Then in an instant, Nanoha whirled out of the room.

"Wait - !"

The blonde nearly cursed, knowing not even she could stop Nanoha.

And with that large a magical reaction, this hideout would be found.

She gritted her teeth, and took out the card.

"Bardiche."

"_Yes sir."_

The blonde summoned destruction - with surprising ease, as if barely any magic was needed - upon the little shack, enough to level the ground and turn bricks into ashes, and teleported after Nanoha.

She had only a brief moment to wonder why it was so easy.

-o-

It was too late.

It was already too late.

Nanoha just stood there, still and unmoving; Raising Heart was loose in her hand.

Signs of rampage and destruction filled the house.

Then blue eyes turned back to her, furious and hard.

"Suzuka and Arisa," she said, voice tight and cold.

Realization sunk into her mind a second later.

-o-

Gone.

Gone.

Gone.

Only dead dogs.

Dead cats.

Slaughtered mercilessly, sliced with standard military Belka spears, or pierced through magic beams.

And _they_ were nowhere in sight.

"...What the hell?" breathed out a rough, child-like voice.

She turned.

"Cruel...so cruel..." whispered a more feminine tone, horror in the voice.

Vita. Shamal.

"...You've come."

"Because you sent us a message," Signum said.

A blue, furry wolf padded up next to the pink-haired knight - and a flash of agony went through her. Arf.

That incident was still too new, too raw.

She turned again, and saw Nanoha.

The brunette was motionless, eyes fixed on the destruction in front of her.

-o-

_"...No longer a chance for another duel, was it?"_

_"Perhaps."_

_"Of course."_

_"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you, Testarossa."_

_"...You're unusually talkative today."_

_"And you, blunt." _Cynical.

_"People change."_

_"Aa."_ But not always in an instant.

_"...Hayate?"_

_"Her life force is fading."_

_"..."_

_"They have hidden them well, those bastards..."_

_"And the Wolkenreitter?"_

_"Our lives are one with hers."_

Silence.

_"Consider this advice, Testarossa." _Her final advice_. "Cherish her well." _

_"...In return...find them. Promise me you will find them, Signum."_

A ghost of a smile flickered on the pink-haired knight's face.

_"On my sword."_

She will find them.

Not if, not maybe, but will.

But she said nothing on the matter of returning alive.

-o-

It took Fate's every bit of strength to pin _her_ down, even more when she wanted to avoid pressing on that injury.

"Calm..." A gritting of teeth, and she mustered even more strength into her hold. "...DOWN!"

Her grip on that pair of wrists tightened into steel.

"Let go." The growl bit back harshly, menacingly.

"No."

"Let go!"

"No."

"LET GO!"

"NO."

Furious blue glared into equally hard burgundy.

"They took my family," Nanoha said suddenly, voice surprisingly soft and cold. "They took Arisa and Suzuka."

_And they took Hayate and Rein._

"I know," she whispered back hoarsely.

Brown locks of hair fell - _artistically, beautifully_, she couldn't help but think - over those dark, icy blue eyes. Calm and tempered, intense and furious.

"And you want me to stay here and watch them die." There was no accusation in that cool tone, but it hurt.

It hurt.

Her reply was equally muted.

"I refuse to watch you die."

"I won't."

"Don't make promises you don't know you can keep."

Silence.

No one expected the Harlaown family to die, but they did.

No one expected Arf to die, but she did.

"We don't even know where they are." She tried, so very hard, to inject logic into her voice. "Wedon'tknow_ where_ they _are_."

"If we don't start somewhere, we won't know."

"Rushing into the headquarters will only get you killed."

"But Yuuno is there."

Yuuno.

She remembered the smeared blood on the memory card.

"He might know where they are." A pause. "Possibly the same place where his clan is imprisoned."

For all her recklessness, the brunette assessed the situation well.

But she didn't know.

She _didn't_ _know_.

The blood.

The blood.

The blood.

"...We can't."

Surprise flickered in tempered blue.

"We_ can't_," repeated the blonde, burgundy eyes intense and burning with pain.

Her grip on Nanoha shook a little, so faint it was almost unnoticeable, but the brunette did notice.

She noticed.

And she felt something horrible, so very horrible, sinking in her stomach.

"...What is that supposed to mean?" A bare whisper; a bare, bare, faint tone...

The other did not reply.

Could not reply.

"What is that...supposed to mean?!" Blue eyes were suddenly furious and hard and demanding again, and she struggled against the grip on her, "Answer me, Fate!"

Her hand throbbed with pain, and she felt dampness soak into her bandage.

The blonde gritted her teeth and exerted more strength into her hold, even as Nanoha's angry, accusing tone pierced her.

"ANSWER ME!"

"HE'S DEAD!"

Silence.

And she was suddenly limp in the other's grasp, as if all strength had left her.

Blue eyes, astonished and disbelieving, stared into pained, exhausted dark red.

"...You're lying."

A shaky whisper, hoarse and unconvincing.

But Fate never lied.

Not like this, not to her.

"You're...lying..." there was no conviction in that trembling tone.

There was no reply, only burgundy eyes that expressed nothing but intense regret and pain.

"No...it can't...be...it can't..."

Her vision blurred.

"It can't...be..."

The card Yuuno sent not by himself but through a ferret.

Fate's momentarily frozen expression when she inspected the memory chip.

And that text file. That...file...

His last words.

He knew.

That was why he apologized.

He knew.

He _knew._

"No..." her voice was trembling and choked, "Why...it can't...it can't...be..."

"Stop." the girl above her whispered haggardly. The hands that held her by the wrists were shaking. "Just _stop._"

Misty blue tried to focus onto intense red through all the blurriness.

"Tell me it's not true." Faint words, so soft and weak. "Tell me it's not true, Fate-chan...Fa - "

The blonde cut off all words and thoughts when she pressed their lips together.

As if it was the only way she knew would help them.

The only way she knew would destroy them.

-o-

Slender fingers caressed her.

Brushed over the length of her arm - pausing when they reached the bandage - and slight, tingling warmth flooded into her hand.

As if trying to soothe the throbbing pain of that long, scarring wound.

She trembled despite herself.

It did more than just ease her.

Lips moved away from her - _swollen, bruised, raw_ - own, towards her jaw, neck; dragging themselves towards red marks created yesterday, kissing...licking...

Blonde hair and warm breath tickled her sensitive skin, and a shiver went down her spine.

Her grip tightened reflexively on that hand that held her pressed to the bed.

The black fabric - _that shirt unbuttoned __but not yet taken off _- which grazed against her bare figure felt strange and oddly soothing.

Her injured hand felt almost numbed - and somewhere at the back of her mind, she recognized the tell-tale signs of painkillers in the form of electricity.

Fingers drifted over her - _still sore_ - form; cool to the touch, yet leaving burning imprints in their wake, overlapping old ones that have yet to fade. The lingering sensations from yesterday that have yet to be forgotten.

It was a far cry from yesterday's treatment.

But this was not what she wanted. She wanted more of yesterday's, wanted the roughness, wanted the violence, wanted the _pain_ - because that was exactly what she was feeling right now, and Fate knew it, but she _wasn't giving it_.

And as if the other could read her thoughts, the blonde bit her, hard.

She jerked, more out of surprise than pain.

Hot moistness cupped over the newly formed bruise.

Then the pace changed all of a sudden.

The fingers that went _in_ her all of a sudden with no warning, and so swiftly, made her breathe in sharply; and her hand tightened its grip on Fate's that pinned her down.

Lips covered her own, muffling that cry - even as those fingers _stayed_ in there, making circles; slow, gentle...teasing.

Then the speed rapidly picked up.

Her breath was gone, and with every caress the other made, sensations she couldn't describe jolted down her whole body, made her jerk and tremble involuntarily - but the warm body that - _felt like scalding heat -_ hovered over her, the hand that pressed her down stopped her from moving. The dulling pain on her neck was burning. The searching kiss was stealing her every thought.

Her injured, benumbed hand grasped at the sheets weakly, shaking.

She wasn't sure how long it lasted - all she knew was that she was lacking oxygen, she couldn't think, and agonizing fire was building deep in her.

There was only a brief respite when Fate ended that kiss; but the fingers didn't stop, didn't_ slow down_, and then lips were on her throat, as if trying to taste the sound that was strangled out of herself - _burning her, searing her_ - and she could feel the strands of blonde hair that tickled her, her neck arching backwards as if on reflex.

Her eyes squeezed shut.

Her grip on the sheet tightened, crumpling it further.

Then there was a hot white flash covering her closed vision.

And she was suddenly spent, tension washed out of her, weak in the other's embrace, breathing ragged and harsh.

But the fingers hadn't left her.

Motionless _inside_ her, but still there.

She couldn't move, not without letting those fingers graze against herself more than they had.

And she knew the blonde was perfectly aware of that fact.

Dark, intense red eyes pierced her own.

Promising nothing.

Promising everything.

Despite herself, despite knowing that she was the one who wanted this - and Fate (who didn't want to hurt her_ again_) was giving her what she wanted, she felt a shiver - _anticipation, dread - _run down her spine.

She was still trying to catch her breath.

Fate wasn't done, and she knew it.

But she couldn't read that gaze.

That almost cold, yet so blazing, gaze.

Then, at last, after what seemed to be an eternity of silence, the blonde spoke.

"If you die..." that soft voice said, with faint rough tremors uniquely hers, "...I will die."

_I will die._

Confusion flickered past her.

What...?

Deep burgundy, the color of maple and wine, was suddenly bitter and hollow.

"So if you want to find Yuuno, still - " _she would, because she refused to believe it till __she sees __it, _" - then kill me."

She stared.

Disbelief.

Surprise.

"Or so help me," the ragged whisper came, "I will kill myself."

Most of all, _fear_.

And she didn't respond, not with astonishment running through her; couldn't respond, not with lips suddenly covering her own, claiming her - _marking her_ - and she resisted, because it made her unable to think, it made it hard to argue back, and Fate _knew_ it.

Fingers moved again in _there_, and she jerked involuntarily at the sensations that jolted through her; flame flickering in her once more, the rhythm that faded returning again.

No. Not this. Not now -

Fingers pushed in _harder_.

Her sharp cry was muffled.

She couldn't escape.

Her nails dug into skin, nearly drawing blood, and her grip tightened painfully on that hand that held hers.

The familiar, warm weight that pressed lightly on her ended her vain struggle - _not without leaving burning sensations when bare skin grazed against bare skin -_ and her traitorous body was responding even if she did not want to.

Then the mouth left hers, ending that hard, bruising kiss; harsh breathings filling the air.

But the fingers didn't stop; and it made it so incredibly hard to think, let alone breathe.

Red, red, red.

A color so subtle and deep, beautiful and aristocratic.

She tried to focus on it; tried to focus on those eyes that said so many things she understood and didn't understand, but her mind fogged over - from the agony growing deep in her, the pleasure overtaking her, and that intense gaze that stripped her bare, especially on the _inside_.

Too _fast_.

She couldn't deal with it.

Her eyes squeezed shut, trying to escape that scorching stare.

But she couldn't run from the touch that branded her, the touch that created ineradicable marks on her.

Rough moisture was on her neck, cold when it left, hot when it returned; and the sensation made her shudder.

And words - soft, husky, breathless, _pained -_ pierced into her hazy conscience.

"I can't lose you."

Asking her to understand.

_Begging_ her to understand.

"_I can't lose you_." The hoarse, ragged whisper repeated, and she was pulled into another kiss, invasive and possessing.

Her heart was beating painfully against her chest, and tears were leaking from the corner of her eyes for reasons she couldn't name. Couldn't understand. But she knew it wasn't the way Fate was touching her, holding her - because it didn't even hurt, it was so _different;_ there was restraint (too much) in those movements which had not been there yesterday.

The taste of the kiss was bitter and sweet all the same; the manipulation of her violating and ravishing all at once.

From their sweat-soaked palms and fingers intertwined, she felt a momentary trembling.

One that did not come from herself.

And she couldn't deny her, not without letting everything that held herself in place crumble.

It was Nanoha who woke up first the next day.

She could have easily left without _her_ noticing.

But she didn't.

-o-

A/N: If some of you are curious, the problematic scene in question which made me hold back from posting this was the first, second and last -- which were the ones I had written much later after I had finished with the rest of the chapters (aside from epilogue). Mainly because this is an angst story, so some bit of fluff and humor (however little) might just ruin what tension there is...though on the other hand, it was a good chance to ease the mood a little. Because things are going to go downhill; really, really downhill; so enjoy it while it lasts. And as for the last scene -- I honestly doubt Nanoha would stay unless if something...drastic...was implemented, so.

...Also, I found a particular comment by a certain reviewer particularly ironic and amusing in a morbid manner, because that person almost hit a bull's eye in the regards of what I'm planning to do. In what I am almost certain would make readers want to kill me.

RoE is a dark, dark tale, indeed..

But, well. Exams are approaching in a week or so, which means I will either be very active or very inactive where writing is concerned; because I tend to procrastinate a lot, which is both good and bad.

So, till next time, all.  
-Eagle


	3. III

Posted: 28/11/2007

Translation: "Iie" means "no".  
I don't have any particular song in mind for this chapter, to be honest...or rather, I suppose you could say I'm having a hard time finding a suitable song. I had one in mind, but it isn't quite all that suitable except for the end of second scene. On the other hand, _Nephilim_, which was originally the theme for part I, would probably work for this whole chapter in general. It...depends, I suppose.

-o-

_**Resplendence of Ebony**  
Part III_

_-o-_

It was a trap.

A fact so plainly clear.

"...A sudden increase of guards on the perimeter, raised AMF barriers..."

"But only for this one."

"Only this one."

"They are expecting us to come."

And, of course, that expectation would be met.

Because time was running short.

So short.

In just one day, yesterday, the fifth day since this mess started, the Wolkenreitter had felt the change in them.

In their Linker Cores.

And they understood.

There was no longer any time; not to investigate, not to hesitate.

It no longer mattered how dangerous it was.

At least, not to them.

They understood.

"Signum?"

Blue eyes glanced at burgundy.

The blonde was looking at her a little oddly.

Sharp.

Very sharp.

But that didn't mean she was about to tell her anything.

"Iie. It's nothing." She paused, and looked around.

The knights, including Nanoha and Fate, were scattered around the room.

Vita's expression was as dark as it was furious as it was cold.

Shamal's held only regret and sadness.

Zafira was stoic.

"Tomorrow," she begun, before suddenly realizing it would be the seventh day since the chain of events had been triggered, and couldn't help but find humor in it. In this so very morbid situation. "We attack at dawn."

Silence.

She did not need to speak of their strategy.

They were all powerhouses in their own right, and they would all play distraction, destroying AMF devices left and right while Shamal - protected by Zafira - searched for their intended targets.

And the chances of them, just six people, leveling the ground headquarters?

Almost nil.

"Rest." Signum said. "We will need our strength for tomorrow."

-o-

Soft green light faded.

"Give it a few more days," Shamal said quietly, wrapping a fresh bandage around Nanoha's arm. "...And don't overdo it."

"Aa." A nod.

The blonde knight sighed. "On second thought...Fate-chan?"

Burgundy eyes looked up at her, and blinked once.

"Watch her tomorrow," she pointed a threatening finger at the brunette, who cringed a little at that know-it-all amiable tone of Shamal's. "_Carefully_."

Fate's lips twitched.

"I will," promised the blonde mage, even as Nanoha darted a quick glare at her. She had had every intention to do so, even before Shamal's order.

The doctor tightened the knot with a tug, securing it.

There was a pause where she seemed to hesitate.

"Healing spells...speed up the rate at which your wound closes," she said, squeezing Nanoha's hand lightly. "And while the side effects are minor, they still exist…particularly when an injury is serious.

Fate and Nanoha both knew that.

They knew, exactly, what Shamal was trying to say.

"Nightly," the blonde knight informed them. "Healing spells once every night. And no longer than two minutes. After three days, make it every two nights. No more than that. Understand?"

This time both of the younger mages blinked at her.

Shamal either didn't notice, or pretended not to. "To minimize the damage on the skin," she said, "we need to let it heal as naturally as it could."

They gave her equally odd, confused looks. That particular bit of knowledge was something they had learned ages ago.

Burgundy eyes did turn slightly darker at the reminder - and Nanoha noticed - but at the moment, they were more concerned about the fact Shamal was...almost rambling.

"Shamal-san...?"

"Yes?"

"...Is something wrong?"

Signum would have had a well-practiced poker face on, Vita a scowl and glare that often deterred questions, and Zafira would have been as stoic and silent as always; but Shamal...

The doctor looked stricken.

"No, it's..." She paused.

She did not try to continue, actually; seeing the similarly disbelieving and concerned looks on Nanoha and Fate.

For a moment, she was torn.

Then she steeled herself.

"...It's going to be dangerous tomorrow, after all." She gave them a weak smile. "This mission..."

She wasn't lying.

She wasn't.

"But we don' have a choice, do we?" Nanoha's tone was wry. "All of you felt Hayate-chan in danger."

Was in danger, not in danger.

She took in a deep breath.

"That's...true." She gave them an unconvincing smile.

"We will come back," Fate said. Burgundy eyes were intense. "We _will_."

For a brief moment, she wondered if the blonde mage said it more for herself or for them.

But on this, she did voice her agreement.

"Aa. I'm sure both of you will."

Fate's eyebrows knitted. "Shamal..?"

The knight let out a sigh. "But that aside," she said - _evaded the unspoken question_ - as she ran one last check on Nanoha's hand with the tips of her fingers that glowed soft green, "how are you now, Fate-chan?"

Burgundy eyes blinked once, twice.

"Me?"

"Yes. You." Shamal raised an eyebrow at her.

"But I'm not..." Her words faltered when the doctor gave her a look that demanded honesty. "...Injured?"

Shamal scrutinized the blonde, and the other just stared back.

Once upon a time, Fate would have fidgeted uncomfortably.

But that was then.

Burgundy eyes were...darker than usual.

Not as naive. Not as innocent. Not as kind.

Almost cold.

She was almost sure it was worse before, earlier, when the Wolkenreitter were out.

There was a pause when the doctor considered her. And Nanoha.

They glanced at each other upon receiving that look.

Warmth flickered in those red eyes when when they met Nanoha's. So very small, but there.

It was there.

Fate had only just begun mending her wounds.

Only just.

And yet, tomorrow...

She felt something tighten in her chest.

If only...

"Shamal?"

She jerked out of her thoughts.

The doctor glanced between the two, lips curling into an amiable - _fake_ - smile, and stood, medical kit in hand. "Maa..." She released a breath she didn't realize she was keeping. "I suppose the both of you will be all right." Because they were together.

She did not tell them that.

If they only knew just how much...

She looked the two mages over again very quickly, scanning for any abnormalities, before walking to the door. "It's getting late," she said, and a real smile formed on her face this time. "Rest early, ne?"

The sound of their voices seemed so distant to her ears as she shut the door behind her.

_"We will come back," _Fate's words had held conviction, blind conviction that she knew the lightning mage did not feel. _"We will."_

We?

Her grip on the box tightened.

No, she thought, not -

"Shamal?"

She glanced up, and saw the pink-haired knight.

The blonde forced a smile on her face. "...Signum."

Blue eyes observed her for a moment.

One long moment.

Then Signum reached into her pocket, and held out a hankerchief.

"Take it." A pause. "You are crying."

She was.

Tears were steadily rolling down her cheeks.

Signum did not ask why.

-o-

Silence.

A long, deep silence.

Just two days ago, Fate tried, so very hard, to stop Nanoha from attacking the headquarters.

Knowing it would only harm her, if not kill.

And tomorrow...

Her lips thinned.

How ironic.

"Fate-chan?"

She glanced up to look into blue eyes.

A questioning gaze.

But the blonde only shook her head.

"It's nothing."

Silence.

But there was something different.

Nanoha seemed to be considering something as she watched her.

And whatever it was, it made her blood run cold.

"I should..." She faltered when those eyes seemed to pierce deep, deep in her; and she looked away. "I should go back to my room. We need to rest early for...tomorrow."

She moved to the door, faintly aware that the brunette had stood up when the bed creaked.

A hand grasped the door knob.

"Wait."

Her motions stopped.

A weight leaned against her, familiar and warm.

Hands were wrapped around her waist.

Brown hair tickled the back of her neck.

But she was unresponsive, rigid and silent.

"...Tell me what you are thinking."

She told herself she wasn't surprised by the question, she _expected_ it, but even despite it all, she stiffened.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

It wasn't an accusation; there was no fire in the rebuke.

Silence.

Nanoha pressed closer to her, head buried into her shoulder.

The slender frame on her back radiated warmth.

She could feel the soft, gentle tapping of heartbeats.

It eased her as much as it roused her.

"...I should go." Her whisper was so faint, yet so intense with unreadable emotion.

The hands on her waist tightened their grip.

"It's getting late," she said, but there was no strength in her voice, no reasoning; she was merely stating a fact without conviction.

The brunette didn't let go.

"I refuse."

She wasn't surprised this time.

Soft breathing on her neck.

"If you won't tell me..."

Warm air blew at her skin, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

"I'll make you tell me."

Then there was something wet and almost burning staking its claim at the curve of her neck.

Her grip on the door knob tightened.

A gentle pressure, swaying up and down her skin; rough, soft and moist.

When it left, cool air invaded, and when it came back, hot dampness took over.

Despite herself, she shivered again.

There was a slight, sharp pain; and she almost jerked.

Nanoha just _bit_ her.

"Don't..." Her words halted when the brunette suckled at her skin, simultaneously soothing the now dull pain and increasing her heartbeat.

It was suddenly warmer, much warmer, _too_ warm.

Cool, slender fingers were under her black shirt the next moment - _when did she unbutton her shirt _- placing feather-light touches on her stomach.

Her hand left the door knob, and she grabbed those hands before they wandered too far, holding them in an almost vice-like grip.

"Stop," she whispered, almost hoarsely. "Don't - "

Another bite.

This time on her shoulder, the shirt sliding off even more, revealing smooth flesh.

Her grip on Nanoha's hands tightened and shook all the same.

"_Nanoha_." Steel was injected into her husky voice, as much as she could muster, despite it shaking and almost ragged.

The brunette did stop this time.

"Then tell me." Hot, intense, ardent words.

Promising forbidden things.

A refusal would set them into motion.

Anger rose all of a sudden.

"You already know, don't you?"

Her words were stiff and almost curt.

Then she bit her lip.

There was no reply from Nanoha.

As if there was something heavy on her shoulders, she deflated.

"...Sorry." A whisper. "I didn't..."

Silence.

Her grip on those hands loosened, almost sure that Nanoha would leave now.

But the brunette didn't move.

Brown hair tickled the back of her neck.

"...I know that even if I tell you not to blame yourself," soft, quiet reply, "you still will."

Warm breath blew on her skin.

A pause.

"And you are, aren't you?"

She did not deny it.

"...I could always go for surgery, you know." Nanoha said, voice unreadable. "Mid-Childa's technology...no, even Earth's...they can take this scar away."

That five inch scar.

That jagged, burned collection of skin on her hand.

That _ugly_ mark.

"I will go," the brunette said, quietly. "...Only if you want me to."

She stiffened.

Again. Again. _Again_.

Always so easily...

"...If I say no?" she whispered before she could stop herself, and froze.

What did she just say?

"Then I won't."

A firm, sure answer.

Nanoha was serious.

The blonde couldn't respond.

Bewilderment. Astonishment.

It was a mark she gave_ her_.

A scar that would never fade.

She _marked_ her as _hers_.

The thought of it disgusted her as much as it gratified her.

Ha, what a masochist she was...

A bitter smile grew on her lips.

Nanoha's hands moved away, and the brunette stepped back.

"So it's a no?" Soft words.

Unreadable.

But there was something different in that tone, something that sent a chill down her spine.

She turned, and froze.

"...Nanoha...?"

The bandage, with faint yellow stains of iodine, dropped to the floor.

She could only stare as Nanoha moved her hand under the light.

The wound, running along her hand, was halfway closed; reddened, burnt skin, with hints of dried blood and white flesh.

Periodic healing spells had worked wonders to the injury. Nanoha could barely flex her muscles without reopening her wound before, but now the brunette had freer reign of her movements.

And the blonde couldn't stop staring at it.

Couldn't stop staring at the results of her actions.

Couldn't stop staring at that long, half-formed scar; a sore sight to that unblemished, smooth skin.

Couldn't stop staring at the mark she gave _her._

Nanoha's other hand hovered over the injury, and glowed a soft pink. Then it brightened.

It was a spell stronger - much stronger - than what Shamal had insisted on using.

Through all her astonishment and shock, she lunged for that hand, jerking it away from that wound.

"What are you doing?!" She nearly shouted. "If you heal it now - "

"The scar won't be smaller," the brunette cut in, _blandly_. "Right?"

Her mouth shut.

Blue eyes, calm and intense, pierced into her.

"But does it matter?"

She couldn't answer that.

Nanoha's hand hovered over the injury again.

Soft pink light.

Their gazes were still locked onto each other.

Before she could even bring herself to react, to move, to _stop_ her, the light faded.

She broke the eye-contact, and stared at the wound.

It was already closed.

And only a scar, jagged, burnt, a fiery thick line that ran along her hand, was there.

She didn't understand.

She couldn't understand.

Why did she do it?

Why?

"Because it's from you."

Hands went around her waist and she took an involuntary step back to steady them, her own hands on Nanoha's shoulders.

Her back hit the door.

She didn't understand.

She didn't understand.

"What...?" A shaky, faltering whisper.

Brown hair tickled her neck.

"...I want you to take responsibility."

She was rigid.

Nothing could describe her confusion and bewilderment.

The slender frame in her arms was warm.

"I don't...understand..." Burgundy eyes wavered with uncertainty.

"If you insist on blaming yourself," there was no sugarcoating on those words, "then take responsibility."

She understood that bit perfectly well.

But she could not make sense of what it had to do with worsening the state of the now-healed wound.

And then there was the question of _how_.

There was the question of -

"...So you can't die tomorrow. You can't leave me." Nanoha's muffled voice was soft, so soft, and trembling. "Ever."

Hands that were around her waist tightened.

And suddenly she understood. Shock and realization squeezed together in her chest.

"For something like this, you..." Her whisper was astonished and intense. "For something like _this_..."

Her hands that held Nanoha by the shoulders were shaking, and her grip tightened almost painfully.

"You..." She could barely speak, at a loss of words. Anger was stirring, mixed with sadness and pain and happiness. "Just for me," her words were hoarse, "You would go so far as to do...that? _That_?"

Nanoha did not reply, but her hold tightened.

"...How could you do this?" She couldn't fathom the thought. How could she have done it, just for _her_? "How could you've..."

"I can and I _did_." The muffled, defiant reply shot back.

She couldn't speak. No words would come to her mind.

Then Nanoha leaned back and pierced her with intense, fierce blue eyes.

"Promise me you won't leave."

She stared back, more astonished than anything else.

"Just for a promise, you would - "

"_Promise me._"

"I..." The blonde faltered.

Dare she promise?

No, she didn't dare.

Because she would die before any harm could come to the brunette.

No matter what.

But blue eyes demanded her to say yes.

"Promise me," the order came insistently.

She couldn't say no.

She could never say no.

"...I promise."

"Promise what?" demanded Nanoha.

Her lips twitched, and she let out a soft sigh.

She leaned down, and their foreheads touched.

Passionate, defiant blue stared - glared - up at her.

Despite herself, she smiled.

Her words were soft and faint.

"I promise I won't leave you."

"...Ever?" Cracking voice.

"Ever."

All the while knowing she may not be able to keep it.

Nanoha's smile was bright and watery.

The brunette did not let her go for a long time.

-o-

A/N: Some of you probably saw this coming, and some of you probably didn't. I am curious, though, did anyone else think Nanoha/Fate would react this way? -_bemused- _

On another note, Rae has picked up on beta-ing, which is good news, though updates on RoE will likely remain on a monthly basis or longer. Previous/future chapters/fics will gradually get beta-ed as well (and beta-ed stuff can be noted by the credit I put at the top wrapper), however slow it may be. And just thought I'd note to you guys: Beta-ing means longer time to process fictions. :P

To those of you who likes to mull over technical aspects of healing magic, I do have some sort of theory in mind. Considering that magic in the MGLN world is linked heavily to a lot of maths, science, and technology, it's not really a far-fetched idea to theorize this. Biology stuff. As mentioned briefly, the magic speeds up the _natural_ healing process of an injury - in a sense, you could say it's speeding up the metabolism rate and the rate of which the skin grows; magic is a source of energy, and energy (nutrients) is what is needed to quicken the speed of growing skin.

I like to think there are two forms to magic. One tangible, one not. One that can be seen, and one that cannot be seen but can be felt. Just as it is possible to stand on a magic circle mid-air, it's also possible to create an "illusion" that is oddly tangible, and can be touched, i.e. fire, lightning. And I do not think it's limited to just the five elements. I'm thinking of a lot of other stuff.

...Okay, the last paragraph got a bit off-topic. But, well. Healing magic's just a small part of my little theory. I won't bank in on that though, because I'm imagining several pages worth of physics and biology, and frankly, I'm just too lazy and I don't think you will be interested.

And, once more, a little reminder. There _will_ be references to White Devil in the next chapter. _**Heavy**_ references. Which is why I really do hope you've picked up that fic and read it. If you end up getting confused, don't say I didn't warn you.

Also, about that little irony I mentioned before? I'm just going to say there are surprises in store, and...I can only ask of you to stay with me till the end of this story, and see how it unfolds. Already I can imagine some of you getting disappointed at how it will end, but at the same time, some of you will likely love it.

On other news, I'm still kind of stuck on the epilogue. Some life issues ended up dampening my mood to write, and lack of inspiration and reviews...well, I suppose you could say all of them are obstacles. Mostly the first and third, though. _-hintnudgehint-_

All in all...I hope it was an enjoyable chapter. Despite the fact not much happens here, well...what can I say? After all, it's the calm before the storm. :P

Till next time,  
Eagle.


	4. IV

Posted: 16/01/2008  
1st Revision: 23/02/2008

Song available in LJ. Again, my final reminder. You **need** to know what happened in the _White Devil_ fiction for this to actually make _sense_.

-o-

_**Resplendence of Ebony**  
Part IV  
_

_"Whispers in the Dark,"  
- Skillet, Comatose._

_No, you'll never be alone  
When darkness comes you know I'm never far__  
To clothe you in crimson roses_

_-o-_

"Starlight..."

Bright pink glow.

"...Breaker!"

The beam, the long, thick beam of pink light, slammed into the AMF barrier, and the ground shook.

Hands that held Raising Heart tightened, and she poured more energy into it.

A small ray of magic pierced through, hitting the wall; and the beam gradually grew.

She threw even more power behind her attack.

And the AMF barrier was overridden, the transparent shield fading into nothing.

An explosion shook the ground, the beam of light breaking the walls of the headquarters.

Time to dance.

Vita gripped the steel ball in her hand tightly, and a burst of red fire enveloped the ball before she tossed it into the air.

"_Swallow Flier!_"

Her hammer slammed the ball, and the burning orb crashed into a group of uniformed TSAB mages.

Not enough.

Not enough.

She snapped her hand out again - and four grey balls floated in the air.

Her hammer hissed as three cartridges were reloaded in succession.

And she swung, hard and fast.

Explosions, loud and sharp, rang in her ears.

Music to Vita's ears, really.

"Vita-chan!" Nanoha's alarmed voice. "You're - "

"Shut up!" Her blood was boiling. Her mind was filled with rage.

_Vita. Calm down._

_Shut up. You're noisy._

_Vita - _

_Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!_

_Calm down - _

_I won't calm down. They hurt Hayate. THEY KILLED HAYATE!_

_She's not dead._ The cold voice bit back at her.

_Yet,_ she told her leader bitterly._ Yet._

_Yet. _The cool response came. _Our master is not dead, and our mission is to release her. Being reckless will do nothing._

A hand gripped her shoulder hard, and tugged her back sharply.

A light beam shredded some of her red hair.

"Vita-chan!" Nanoha's voice. Harsh voice. "Watch what you're doing!"

"I know that!" growled the knight, slapping that hand away. Her other hand gripped Eisen tightly.

_And do not forget our other mission, Vita. _

She gritted her teeth.

_I didn't forget, damn it!_

"Vita-chan?"

"Nothing!" she snapped back, even as a transparent red barrier flared from her open hand, blocking another beam.

_Good. Then concentrate._

Her lips thinned.

"Let's go, Nanoha," she said.

Her voice was slightly softer, and the brunette noticed.

A ghost of a smile flickered on Nanoha's face.

"Aa."

-o-

"Bardiche!"

"_Sonic move._"

Yellow flash zigzagged around the myriads of mages.

And one by one, they fell.

Easy.

Too easy.

Her hands that gripped her scythe shook.

It was too easy.

Why?

Why?

Magic flowed through her veins, her blood; and she felt it tingling at the tips of her fingers.

Whatever moves she performed, whatever magic she did --

Her hand was raised, and yellow balls formed around her, crackling and bright.

"_Photon Lancer Phalanx Shift._"

Explosions, far and wide, threw the wind into an uproar and she almost flinched from the sharp velocity.

Too easy.

Too easy.

She used so much magic, and yet...

Why did she felt like she barely used any magic at all?

_Regroup_.

Signum's order snapped her out of her reverie, and she flew up into the sky.

Shamal must have found something.

Her eyes scanned the destruction below her, automatically seeking Nanoha.

She found her easily enough.

Wreaking havoc with Vita, per usual.

Her lips twitched to form a smile.

Then her eyes caught sight of someone, a mage dressed in black, hiding behind a broken car.

She knew as soon as she saw the gun in his hand.

A sniper.

And he was aiming at Nanoha.

His rifle was following the white mage's every movement.

The brunette hadn't noticed.

Nanoha hadn't noticed.

_ba-thump_

The mage was leaning forward, preparing to shoot.

And memories assaulted her.

Kaa-san. Chrono-niisan. Amy. Arf.

_ba-thump_

Blood. The scar. Blood. Arf. Nanoha.

_ba-thump_

Blood. Kaa-san. Amy. Chrono-niisan. Arf.

_ba-thump_

Nanoha.

Nanoha.

Nanoha.

Her grip on Bardiche tightened, and she felt her fingers shake.

The sharp wind ruffled her blonde hair, and a magic circle grew underneath her.

Her mind was blank.

As if in a trance, sharp, yellow daggers formed around her.

"_Plasma Lancer_."

Her gloved hand snapped forward.

And the knives sped.

Sped with a swiftness Fate never managed before.

It was fast, too fast.

But she realized it too late.

And it was that moment in which she realized why it was all too easy, why her every spell seemed to take so little effort.

Arf died.

And so the magic that she provided to her familiar had returned, pooling back in her reserves.

The explosion shook the ground, and Nanoha snapped her head around.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood poured out to the ground, next to the black wreckage of that car.

Her grip on Bardiche shook.

Blue eyes were staring at her as she descended slowly.

Disbelief. Astonishment.

Horrification.

She wondered if her expression mirrored Nanoha's.

She had just killed someone, after all.

-o-

Clap, clap, clap.

"_And so the first blood is shed?_"a cold voice asked, sounding amused.

Her head jerked around, looking for the source of that voice.

Not that she needed to look for very long, since a large, wide screen soon appeared in front of them.

The TSAB mages had stopped attacking.

"Goooooooood morning...!" Singsong tone.

She stared.

Nanoha stared.

"You..." whispered Vita.

Takeru Kisato.

The very same man who kidnapped Nanoha's family once upon a time, used them as hostages against her, and...and...

A scene flashed past Fate's vision.

Slate blue eyes. Dark, cold, _merciless._ And Takeru, bound by her rings. And the deadliest weapon Nanoha could ever use...

"Yes," the mocking voice brought her back to reality. "Me."

Something in Vita snapped. "You bastard.." hissed the redhead. "How the hell did you get out of jail?!"

"How do you think I gained control of this little ground headquarters, Vita-san?" He tsked. "So how was my welcoming committee?" Takeru asked curiously. "Did it satisfy you, Testarossa-san?"

Her grip on Bardiche tightened, and she drew in a sharp breath.

"I was almost certain you needed to vent your anger ...after all, your family died." He was smiling amiably. "As did your familiar. The poor, poor little wolf...fighting to the end." Then he grimaced, and rubbed the side of his neck. "She almost got me, too."

She stared at him.

Her mind whirled with possibilities, making her dizzy.

She couldn't think.

"Ah, that's right," he said as if remembering something, and the grin turned maniacal. "I was the one who killed her, too."

She froze.

"I pierced right into her heart," he was murmuring.

His tone was oddly melodic, singing to a non-existent tune.

"Even at the end, she tried to claw at me...that poor, poor little wolf...but then she died! And I threw her into the wall! You should have heard the bones snapping! It was _wonderful_! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

For one of the few times in her life, she saw red.

"You..." Her voice was a soft hiss, and her hold on Bardiche shook harder. "You bastard..."

She took a trembling step forward, and Nanoha was suddenly next to her, holding her back.

"Don't..." whispered the brunette. Angry, hard and fierce, but begging Fate to regain her control. She held her in a vice-like grip. "Don't listen to him."

"He..." she sucked in a sharp breath, trying to force clarity back into her mind, and failed. She grabbed the hand that held her, fingers shaking. "He did..."

Nanoha held her tighter.

There was a pause where Takeru seemed to consider something.

"Maa, maa...calm down first. I still have other things to entertain all of you with." He sounded amused. "You didn't seem to notice it earlier, Testarossa-san, so I decided to keep quiet. But now..."

He snapped his fingers, and another screen, large and wide, blinked into existence.

She stared.

Suddenly, her legs seemed to lose all strength, and it was only Nanoha that kept her standing.

"Look!" he chanted in a sing-song voice. "Look at what marvelous destruction you have done!"

No.

No.

No.

How could she not have noticed?

_Why didn't she notice?_

Her breathing was suddenly ragged, and her heart hammered against her chest painfully. She couldn't hear what Nanoha was saying frantically to her.

Voices around her seemed so hollow, so faint; and she couldn't focus on anything but the screen.

Dead.

All dead.

The mages she attacked earlier.

They were on the ground, still and unmoving.

But it couldn't be!

Her control was perfect.

Her control had always been perfect.

She aimed to maim, not to kill.

"...It must have been wonderful to have the full capacity of your magic back," he murmured thoughtfully.

Realization hit her full force in the face, and she jerked involuntarily.

And she understood.

She understood.

Because she no longer supplied magic to Arf.

Because she had more magic than she used to have.

Because she channeled a bit too much magic.

Just a bit too much magic.

"Such irony..." Takeru chuckled, "You who tried to stop Takamachi-san from killing me, from getting her very first kill..."

He laughed, softly, bemusedly.

"And now...you're not just a killer anymore, Testarossa-san," he said quietly, almost comfortingly. "Given your duty as an enforcer, of course, you must have _tasted_ your first kill before."

Tasted?

_Tasted?_

Fate felt disgust overwhelm her.

"Your hands are not stained with the blood of one anymore, Testarossa-san." Laughter. Pure, humored laughter. "Not two, not three. Not tens, not twenties. Fifties! Do you know what that means? You're a MASS-MURDERER NOW! MURDERER! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!"

She was dizzy.

She couldn't think.

Couldn't focus on anything.

Couldn't breathe.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

"..Fate-chan! FATE!"

A sharp pain on her left cheek, her face jerked to a side.

Dazed, she turned to stare into fierce blue eyes.

The brunette had slapped her. Hard.

"...Na...noha...?"

The white mage almost said something, but Takeru interrupted.

"Ah, Takamachi-san...How are you?"

A grit of teeth.

Blue eyes tore away from her to glare at the man on the screen.

"It appears that you're healthy...unfortunately," he muttered.

But then he smiled.

"We never did get to finish our game before, did we?"

A smile so cold and malicious.

Another screen blinked into existence.

The blonde felt Nanoha shake.

The Takamachi family. Arisa. Suzuka.

Bound and imprisoned.

There were two TSAB officers there, rifles in hand.

"Ah, ah...do not move, guardian knight," he tsked, glancing at Vita, who seemed ready to attack. "I have your precious master with me, too."

He stepped back, and behind him...

The redhead froze.

Hayate.

On a bed, unconscious.

And Rein, sleeping in a pool of blue water encased in a transparent, clear box.

"Now, if you would be kind enough to stay there, guardian knights..." He sat down on the chair next to the bed, gaze sweeping over Signum - who had narrowed her eyes dangerously - and a seething Vita. "...Let me deal with my _lovable_, favorite girl first."

He turned back to face them.

"Saa...shall we continue our game, Takamachi-san?" He was smiling so brightly. "Once more, I have your family in my hands...and your precious friends too, this time. Admiral Chrono was not there to stop me this time, which is fortunate, no?"

"_Bastard_," hissed Fate.

"No, no. Testarossa-san, didn't I say such a word is unbecoming of a lady?" he chastised.

She felt a growl forming deep in her throat.

He sighed at the murderous glare.

"Naa, all pleasantries aside...let us get on to the main event, shall we?" He leaned forward. "Allow me to explain it...though the game is fairly simple, really."

A third screen appeared, and three zeros were on it, a bright blue in the black background.

"You have a time limit of thirty minutes. Once that's passed..." Takeru paused. "Well, they will be dead by then."

Dead by then.

By then.

By then.

"...For every five minutes," his voice dripped with sugar, "one person will die."

The blonde stiffened.

"That's why I said the time limit is only half an hour, ne?" He smiled.

"You..." snarled Signum.

"Me," he mocked back. "Where's the fun in the game if you are not actually desperate to finish it as soon as possible?"

Vita growled at him, and he turned his gaze back to her. "Patience, little knight. Your time will come."

Her gaze narrowed, and Signum clamped a steely grip on Vita's shoulder before she could move.

Then she was oddly silent; but if glares could kill, Takeru would be dead a thousand times over.

"Maa...before we get off-track too much...who wants to guess the objective of the game?" He was smiling so widely, so brightly, so _sickeningly_.

But no one spoke.

No one wanted to speak.

He sighed again, disappointment gracing his features. "You're all no fun. Well, no matter..." he muttered.

"The objective of the game..."

A dramatic pause no one felt.

"...is for Testarossa-san to die."

The blonde felt something cold and dark enveloping her.

"A life for six people. Maybe less if you spend too much time delaying, ne?" Amusement, a sense of humor so malicious and cruel laced his voice. "But that's more than a fair trade, if you ask me."

Her grip on Bardiche was loose, her stance frozen.

Silence.

"Do not hesitate for too long, my dear," he advised. "Time is precious, ne?"

The timer on the screen blinked, beeping once, twice, and thrice.

And the seconds began to tick.

Tick.

Tick

Tick.

The hands that held her left.

The brunette took shaky steps back.

Away from her.

Distancing herself from her.

The hand that held Raising Heart was shaking, so very badly.

They stared at each other.

Movements ceased.

Breathing stopped.

The wind ruffled their hair.

Dark red eyes stared into horrified, fearful slate blue.

-o-

"Nanoha..." Her name was being called, painfully, intensely.

Burgundy eyes, furious and sad all the same, were fixed on her.

Choose.

Choose.

Choose.

But she couldn't.

"No...no..." Weak, hoarse words. "I can't...I can't..."

"Oh?" Takeru's cruel voice said. "Then...you don't mind them dying?" He gestured, and one of the officers raised his rifle.

She jerked to stare at the screen. "Stop!"

"Then kill her," he encouraged, voice saccharine sweet. "The clock is ticking."

Her gaze darted to the timer.

Two minutes had passed.

Blue eyes returned to meet dark red.

The blonde hadn't moved.

Watching her silently.

Stance loose and open.

Waiting for her to decide.

To attack.

To kill.

And she was suddenly furious and mad.

_LIAR!_

The blonde didn't move, but there was a small flinch.

So small it was almost unnoticeable.

Then burgundy eyes were hard again, piercing into hers.

Forcing her to decide.

But she couldn't.

Her hold on her device shook.

She couldn't, she couldn't.

Her family or Fate.

Suzuka and Arisa or Fate.

Unthinkable.

Unacceptable.

_Forbidden_.

Who was more important?

What was more important?

The ground beneath her did not feel so steady anymore.

Her gaze was locked with Fate's, but she wasn't seeing those beautiful, grim burgundy eyes.

She wasn't seeing anything at all, thrust into cold abyss.

One life.

Six lives.

Her significant other.

Her family. Arisa, Suzuka.

_Choose_.

But she _couldn't_.

"Four minutes and coouuuuunting..." sang Takeru.

Anger, a fury so cold was building in the pit of her stomach; chilling even herself to the bones.

She forced herself to focus.

Think. Think.

There had to be a way to save them.

_But that involved killing Fate_.

"Thirty seconds left..."

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

She heard a brief tussle from the screen, and snapped her head around to stare at it.

Miyuki was thrust forward by the collar, the tip of the gun pressed to her head.

There was a grimace on her face, and her family struggled to escape their bindings.

"Nee-chan..." The familiar, fond term came from her so quickly, so hollowly.

"Fifteen seconds! Who will die first, I wonder?"

Her fingers shook.

She turned again, slowly, to stare into deep red.

Kill her.

Kill her.

_Kill her._

No.

The answer came swiftly.

Not her.

Never her.

"Three...two...one...and it's a zero!"

_Bang!_

There was the sound of a figure falling to the floor.

She didn't turn to look at the screen.

She _couldn't_.

Her hands shook.

Intense, fierce burgundy pierced her; regret and pain so clear in them.

And she knew.

She _knew._

Miyuki was dead.

"Such indecisiveness..." tsked Takeru. "Now it's down to five people. Don't spend too much time deciding, ne?"

But she couldn't move.

Anger and despair snaked around her with a grip so suffocating, holding her there, freezing her.

Fate tore her gaze away to glare at the screen.

"The game will be over when I die, right?" she asked - _growled_ - at him.

"Aa. Of course. I'm a man of my word." Takeru smiled.

"Fine."

Fine?

Fine?

She felt something terrible, so very terrible and cold, sinking in her stomach.

"Fate...chan..?"

Deep red eyes looked back at her for a brief moment, and a monotone male voice echoed in her ears.

"_Sonic move._"

Then the blonde was suddenly behind her.

A gloved finger touched the back of her neck before she could react.

"...I'm sorry." Husky, faint voice; filled with regret and pain.

Electricity jolted through her nerves, and her device clattered to the ground.

Strength faded from her legs.

Her muscles refused to move.

She couldn't move.

Her nerves were numbed.

She could barely feel anything.

"...You will be back to normal in a little bit, Nanoha." Soft, quiet words.

She could only feel the shadowy sensation of slender hands catching her before she could fall.

A hold so gentle and familiar.

And she understood.

She understood.

"No..." she managed to whisper, even as she felt something clenching so tightly in her chest. "Don't..."

Her vision blurred with tears.

She tried to move.

But her body refused to.

"No...no..." Her voice was faint and weak, as if even saying that took so much effort. "Don't...do it..."

But Fate wasn't listening.

She felt another pair of hands grasping her, and the blonde stepped back.

"Thank you...Signum."

"Are you sure, Testarossa?" Calm, unreadable words from the pink-haired knight.

"...Yes."

A pause.

Gloved fingers caressed her cheek, brushing away stray strands of hair.

"You're always so kind, Nanoha..."

Blue tried to focus onto soft burgundy through all the blurriness.

There was a slight smile on that face.

So very familiar, so very gentle.

A soft kiss was pressed to her head.

There was a faint scent that was uniquely Fate's.

Three words were whispered into her ear.

She couldn't respond.

Couldn't breathe.

Couldn't think.

"Liar..." she whispered, voice cracking. "You _liar..._"

The smile grew a fraction.

Then that familiar, warm presence moved away.

And she could only stare, watching the back of the person that was so very dear to her.

"Testarossa."

Signum's clear voice cut through her haziness.

"Allow me...to do it."

Surprised burgundy turned back to look at the knight that held her.

"Signum?"

"No death by suicide is honorable."

The lightning mage blinked.

Then there was a smile.

"I...see."

A soft hiss of sword unsheathing.

Her feet touched the ground, but there was a strong hand around her waist.

"...Is that fine, Signum?"

"It's fine. You are not the first person I have killed before, Testarossa."

"Sou. Then...that's okay..."

Burgundy eyes closed.

Nanoha's gaze darted to Signum's, whose eyes revealed nothing but cool calmness.

"Don't..." her voice was so weak.

Signum didn't listen to her either.

"Laevantine."

"_Schlangenform_."

The knight jerked her hand, and her sword - broken apart and linked together by a chain - sped towards the blonde.

It pierced her.

Through her middle, out the back.

Blood splattered to the ground.

-o-

_You can't leave me, ever. _

_I won't. I promise._

_You won't die? You won't disappear? Ever?_

_I won't. I will be with you. Always._

-o-

A/N: You guys are in for a treat this month? That's three fics/chapters in a row for January. Boredom is a very bad thing, I think. Though I have a feeling some of you will start hoping I get even more bored.

Just one thing I have to say, people.

Stay with me to the end of this story. Speculate however you like, but do stay with me. I don't think you'll regret it, because it is a happily ever after ending. In a somewhat morbid manner, that is. Though that could be interpreted as bad ending as well. But it's a surprise, and with some of you predicting it correctly _and_ wrongly, that's my cue to shut up. :D

That aside, I've finally gotten the epilogue written, which took ages, though I'll likely be tweaking a little bit more. Now, though, part V and VI is proving to be a bit of a problem, so the posting of the next part may take a little longer, with/without beta-ing.

Till next time,  
Eagle.


	5. V

Posted: 11/03/2008  
Song available in LJ.

-o-

_**Resplendence of Ebony**  
Part V_

_"Never Meant to Belong,"  
- Shiro Sagisu, Bleach OST 1._

-o-

Falling.

Blonde hair swayed with movement.

Blood was coughed out, once, twice, and droplets of crimson liquid dribbled to the side of her lips.

Feelings returned to Nanoha's body, and she moved.

So quickly that Signum did not expect it.

Everything seemed to roll in slow motion.

But the brunette wasn't fast enough.

There was no sound.

She couldn't hear anything, not even the flapping of Fate's white jacket, not even the sound of the dry wind.

The blonde hit the ground once, and the thud resonated so loudly and clearly in her ears, momentum pushing the lightning mage up for the briefest second before she touched the ground again.

Nanoha skidded to the floor, collecting the blonde into her arms.

"No...no, no, no..." whispered the brunette.

Desperation.

Despair.

Her vision was blurry.

Drops of water splashed onto Fate's face.

Burgundy eyes were hazy.

"Nanoha..." A cough.

Blood was choked out.

The ground was stained a dark red.

"Don't..no...Fate, you can't...no, no..." She couldn't say anything coherent.

She could barely think.

Her hand pressed against that gaping injury - in the middle, below the breast - soaking her glove red.

Her palm glowed pink.

Fingers were shaking.

But more blood poured out.

"No, no...work, dammit! Work!" she whispered, squeezing more magic into her spell.

"Nanoha..."

A gloved hand caressed her cheek, grazing against rapidly falling tears.

"That's..." Another cough. Pained cough. "...Enough."

"No, no, no, no." She refused to listen, focusing on the healing spell. "I won't...I won't!"

"I..." Blood was choked out.

"Fate, no, hang in there...please. _Please_." Her words were desperate and hoarse, and she gripped the blonde more tightly.

"...I'm sorry." Faint, husky words. "I didn't want you to see this...but I was afraid of using..." Another cough. "...too much power. I can't..c-control...it..."

Shallow breathing.

"Fate...no...no. Don't do this. Don't..."

"Sorry. I..." A choke. "I...broke the promise..."

"You can't." She poured more energy into her spell. "You can't!"

But it wouldn't stop bleeding.

It wouldn't stop bleeding!

A hand overlapped her red-soaked one, grasping it weakly.

"That's enough...Nanoha..."

"No. No no no no!" She ignored the slight pull, and continued her incantation. "You can't, you can't!"

A thumb fingered her cheek gently, wiping away stains of tears.

"Nanoha..."

She wasn't listening.

She couldn't listen.

She didn't want to listen.

"...Nanoha..." Another cough, progressing into a series of pained hacks and chokes.

She did turn to look this time, despair and fear filling her at the horrible, horrible coughs.

The glimmer in burgundy eyes was fading.

"No..." Hoarse whisper. "No...no..."

"...I'm sorry."

A smile was forming on that face.

That so very pale face.

Kind.

Gentle.

Warm.

Everything that defined her.

And it was suddenly soundless.

She could only watch as beautiful deep red eyes, the color of dark maple and wine, closed slowly.

And once more, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

The hand that caressed her cheek was falling.

The hand that grasped her bloodied one hit the ground.

The blonde head dropped to a side.

Strands of yellow hair were ruffled by the wind.

She could only stare.

Despair clenched so tightly in her heart.

Coldness overwhelmed her.

No, no, no.

It can't be.

It can't be.

"Fate...?" she whispered.

No response.

Pink light faded from her fingers.

Her shaky, bloody hand grasped the blonde's cheek, tilting it to face her.

She was smearing it red, and she didn't care.

"...Fate?" Hoarse, faint words. "Answer me...answer me, Fate."

Only the wind answered her.

The blonde had the most peaceful expression on her face.

Not even in her sleep was it like this...

"Fate...Fate...no..." Ragged whisper. "No..."

Then she suddenly realized the warmth was disappearing.

"No...no...you promised..."

She hugged the still body tightly, as if trying to send warmth over.

"You promised..."

Tears were steadily falling.

Dropping to the blonde's face, rolling down those cheeks.

"No...no..."

"_Power down. Mode: Release._" Bardiche's monotone voice.

A burst of soft yellow light.

And the barrier jacket was gone, replaced with that black shirt and pants.

The triangular device was grasped in Nanoha's bloody hand.

"No..." Her voice choked. Her grip on Bardiche was trembling.

A chuckle.

An amused, humored giggle.

Growing steadily longer and louder.

Takeru laughed.

He clapped his hand.

"How very noble of you, Testarossa-san..." he said softly.

Then he raised his fist to his chest, a sign of respect.

Mocking respect.

"As per her death, I shall now end this game."

He gestured.

_Bang. _

_Bang. _

_Bang. _

_Bang. _

_Bang._

Five gunshots.

She raised her head slowly, to stare at the screen.

Blood.

Blood.

Blood.

She couldn't breathe.

Couldn't think.

"You fucking bastard! You said if she died..!" snarled Vita, hand gripping Eisen tightly.

The Takamachi family.

Arisa.

Suzuka.

Dead.

All dead.

"The only thing I said was the game will end when she dies." Takeru's cold, amused voice. "Did I say anything about releasing them?"

"You..." Signum hissed.

He bowed slightly.

"Like I said before, I'm a man of my word." He laughed again. "And I've kept my word, haven't I?"

Anger.

Anger was filling her, reaching into her core, expending to the tips of her fingers.

A fury so cold and dark; and she was losing herself in it.

She couldn't see anything.

Couldn't hear anything.

Couldn't feel anything.

Gently, she placed the blonde on the ground.

She cleaned the blood she smeared on that cheek as best as she could, channeling threads of pink magic to wash it away.

Her hand brushed away stray strands of blonde hair.

Bardiche was placed on Fate's palm, and she curled those fingers into a fist.

Then she stood.

Wavered, before gaining control of her footing.

She was falling.

Falling into despair, falling into sadness, falling into rage, falling into darkness.

Before, Fate was there to pull her back up.

Now, no one could pull her up, ever again.

She picked up her device, her grip tightening slightly.

The white handle of Raising Heart was smeared red with blood.

Fate's blood.

Her hands were no longer shaking.

A pink burst of energy enveloped her.

And she flew, high into the sky; ears deaf to the calls from Vita.

Light beams grazed past her, some blocked by her device's auto shield, some scratching the surface of her clothes, but she no longer noticed.

"Cartridge load."

Soft words.

Her device hissed; loading bullets once, twice, thrice.

She raised her weapon.

"_Excellion Buster_."

A magic circle grew underneath her.

"Break shoot."

The light beam, strong and fast, pierced into the ground headquarters.

She no longer held back her strength.

She poured everything she had into her attack.

Explosions, fierce and loud, made the air ripple harshly.

A huge hole was visible; a jagged scar running from one end of the building to the other.

But she did not notice, entering the premises without taking in her surroundings.

She didn't see the bodies littered around.

"_Accel Shooter_." Two cartridges reloaded.

Pink spheres formed around her, brighter and larger than she had ever summoned.

"Go."

And they sped in all directions.

Explosions, destructions.

Cries of pain and fear.

She was deaf to all of them.

More light balls appeared by her side, accelerating everywhere.

Where?

Where was he?

She would destroy the whole place just to kill him.

She scanned her surroundings, moving deeper into the building.

A screen appeared next to her.

She glanced at it.

"Ne, Takamachi-san...how does it feel?" Takeru asked curiously. "To kill people, I mean."

Cold blue eyes stared at the screen wordlessly.

Silence.

"Come, my dear." He was laughing again; a laugh so cold and malicious. "I'm waiting for you at the top floor."

The screen blinked out.

She raised her weapon.

Another three cartridges were loaded.

"_Excellion buster_."

"Shoot."

The pink beam pierced through the building and into the sky.

She flew.

And Takeru was waiting.

He was sitting on a chair next to a bed, legs crossed.

"How dramatic your entrance is, Takamachi-san..." he sighed, gesturing to the broken floor, wall and ceiling.

Sunlight poured in from the gaping hole of the ceiling.

Blue eyes drifted over him and to the bed.

Hayate.

Rein.

And...Yuuno?

Her stony expression crumbled, and she stared.

He was sitting on the floor, leaning heavily against the foot of the bed.

Blood dribbled to the floor.

The blond man spat out blood, and applied light pressure to his...bleeding, tattered arm?

What...?

"How's your hand, Scrya?"

"Useless."

His answer was mechanical, despite the heavy, ragged breathing.

"And the cause of it?" Takeru's voice was full of mocking curiosity.

"I was directly in line with the shot from Raising Heart. I..." A cough. "...c-could not escape fast enough."

Nanoha froze.

"...Aaaaaaand why was it there?"

A pause.

"Because I was maintaining the barrier surrounding this room."

_Beep_.

Yuuno lifted a hand to tap at a blue holographic keyboard that blinked into existence in front of him, the other limp by his side; and looked at the screen.

He seemed mindless of the blood pouring out to the ground.

"All information regarding -_cough_- the Book of Darkness have been downloaded. Subject Yagami Hayate: Condition yellow. There is no change. Subject Reinforce II is offline."

More coughs.

Blood splattered to the floor.

"Yuuno..!" His name was strangled out of her mouth and she took a reflexive step forward, freezing when cold green eyes turned to her.

Takeru chuckled.

"Well done, Scrya. And your...condition?"

He shook his head. "Functions w-will cease.."

Another smile twitched on Takeru's face.

"Would you grace our guest with the story of what happened to you after you have sent your little ferret out, Scrya?"

"Yes si - "

"Wait. On second thought..." Takeru drummed his fingers on the armrest lazily. Bemused, he said, "I think I know a better idea."

A screen appeared in front of him, and he tapped at it slowly.

"Yuuno Scrya, 000-001x...remove conditioning. Delete all data from mainframe APX-222. Subject: Discharge and erase."

Takeru's finger hovered over a button, and his gaze flickered over Yuuno and Nanoha.

Then he smiled.

Nanoha did not like that smile one bit.

"What are you.."

His smile widened. "He's all yours now, my dear."

He pressed.

Her gaze darted back to Yuuno.

Green eyes stared back at Nanoha dully for a moment, and then there was a glimmer of awareness.

But only for a moment.

Just as quickly, it was blank and emotionless again, and then...

Yuuno's eyes squeezed shut, his head cradled in a bloody hand, and a sudden, agonized cry of pain was let loose from his lips.

Then his head slammed into the floor - no - _he_ slammed his head onto the floor _repeatedly, _as if trying to remove a demon in his own head. His only working hand was clenched into a tight fist and pressed onto the floor, his voice hoarse and cracked even as he let out a blood curdling cry of pain and pain and _pain_.

His light hair was coated red with blood.

And Nanoha could not move, frozen with astonishment and horror.

Then it ended, harsh breathings taking over, his tensed shoulders relaxing in the slightest.

"Na..." His voice croaked, and he stopped.

His head lifted, and their gazes met.

In his eyes, there was relief, regret, sadness, anger...and so many of the same, familiar emotions that ran through her.

Then he choked on his own blood, coughing violently.

She took reflexive steps forward, only to be stopped when his harsh voice stopped her.

"_Don't come here!_"

She forced herself to breathe. "Yuuno..."

"Don't." Yuuno managed to say, through all the blood and pain. His voice was softer this time, but still as painful, and did little to take the bite away from this tone. "Don't, Nanoha." Another cough. Ragged breathing. "He...a bomb..."

He coughed again, harshly.

A bomb?

Takeru clicked his tongue.

She snapped her gaze around to glare at him.

"What did you do?" Her voice was hard and bone-chilling, her intention to kill him nothing but so very obvious.

It was Yuuno who answered.

"A bomb..." he said hoarsely, "in them...it's in them..."

Them?

Realization struck her as quickly. _Hayate. Rein._

There was despair in his tone, and he couldn't meet her gaze, head bowed, fist clenched tightly.

"I'm sorry," his voice was ragged. So ragged._ Broken_. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."

"Yuuno...?"

He didn't answer.

He was crying.

Takeru sighed, then.

He looked almost annoyed. "Must you reveal my secrets so quickly, Scrya-san?"

She turned to glare at him again.

"You planted bombs in them?"

He tsked at her. "It's not nice to accuse people of something they didn't do, Takamachi-san."

Her glare intensified, lips thinning, and her grip on Raising Heart tightened.

"It wasn't me, I swear." He paused, then added almost laughingly, mimicking words he once said before. "I'm a man of my word, remember?"

She wanted to kill him.

She wanted to kill him so badly.

But she didn't move.

"Who, then?" She nearly growled, voice tight and cold.

Takeru cocked his head at Yuuno's direction, smiling amiably.

"Perhaps he would like to answer that."

Yuuno flinched.

What?

She felt dread pooling in her stomach.

His head lifted up to meet her gaze then, just for the briefest instant, before he looked away again. He was shaking, from the pain itself, and from...guilt?

"Me," he said brokenly, and she felt her heart stop for a full two seconds.

"..._You_?" She managed to strangle out, and she couldn't tell if her voice held more accusation or more disbelief.

"It's...me._ I_ put those goddamn bomb in them." Then he stopped, coughed, clenched his teeth, and continued; he was crumbling. Crushed with_ guilt._"I tried...I tried to stop myself but I...I..."

He couldn't continue.

It was Takeru who finished what he didn't say, pitying and so horribly_ kind_. "Couldn't, because your programming didn't let you, did it, Scrya-san?"

He flinched again, but could not look up - whether it was because of his blood that was growing into a bigger puddle on the floor, or whether it was because he was just _broken_, she couldn't tell.

Nanoha wanted to snarl.

She wanted to snarl and howl and tear that smiling man into god-damned_ pieces _and throw him to the darkest pit of despair.

"Rather entertaining, this little drama act..." Takeru mused. "But please, let us do continue with the..." he paused, then continued, more amused than anything else. "..._story_."

Story, he said. A story, as if this was just _some_ comedy flick...

She grinded her teeth.

"...What shall I do with them, hmm?" He lifted a hand to caress Hayate's cheek, rubbing strands of dark chocolate hair between his fingers.

His other hand fiddled with a remote he took out from his pocket.

She glared but did not move.

"...Ah. I know." He said softly. "Shall we play the same game again, Takamachi-san?"

Her grip on Raising Heart tightened.

"Your life...or their lives." His voice was strangely innocent, like a child, and it was almost happy. "Shall we?"

She did not reply.

He sighed. "Such a silent child. Even at that time when Testarossa-san was in my hands..."

Blue eyes narrowed a fraction.

Just a fraction.

"Fine," he snorted. "Since you are not voicing any objections, I will do this my way. Let's play the game, yes?"

He clicked his fingers together.

A screen appeared, three zeroes in bright blue.

"Considering our location and situation...I cannot allow you the luxury of five minutes." He said softly. "Three minutes, I think, is sufficient. Don't you think?"

Her gaze was stone cold.

"And the objective of the game this time..." He smiled. "Is for a certain Takamachi Nanoha to die. Acceptable?"

She didn't react.

He shrugged.

"Silence means agreement."

A gesture, and the timer started.

He tapped the remote against the armrest, resting comfortably against his chair.

Her grip on Raising Heart tightened almost painfully, and her blue eyes were hard and nearly stone cold.

Tick, tick, tick.

-o-

A/N: Good morning/afternoon/evening/night, all.

I have two good news and one bad news.

I'll start with the good ones first. This chapter has only been halfway beta-ed, mostly because I inserted a new scene halfway to the end. Sooner or later, it will be beta-ed completely. Secondly, I will be trying to make an effort to complete part six, to accomodate part five. Hopefully it will be done sometime before next month.

And please, as I have said before, stick with me to the end of the story. Whether you'll like the ending or not, get disappointed or not, I very much appreciate the fact I've readers who read from beginning to the end. I realize most of you are impatient to know what's going to happen, and the thought of it makes me want to grin...but, well. There will be answers in the next chapter. This time, I promise it.

Now, the bad news. When this story is finished, I may go into a hiatus. Semi hiatus, permanent hiatus...I can't say for sure now. I'm sorry. A lot of things had happened. I don't even know if I should be here anymore. At the same time however, before this story ends, I'll be trying to write a little bit more of _Ignis Fatuus_ -- but again, I cannot guarantee anything. I'm not offering any confirmations about the hiatus thing, but it may...happen. So that's just a heads up to all of you.

Most of you know where to contact me - and no, I won't be cutting off any forms of communication. However, I am sorry to say that I don't give out my msn address easily. You're welcome to pm me for it, but chances are if I don't quite know you (unless if your name is familiar and etc), I won't give it to you. No hard feelings.

...Well. I hope the chapter was enjoyable. In a morbid way. 8)

Till next time,  
Eagle.


	6. VI

Posted: 20/08/2008  
Song available in LJ.

-o-

_**Resplendence of Ebony  
**Part VI_

_"Shionari"  
- Orito Shinji, Clannad Game OST._

_Sound of the tide._

_-o-_

Tick, tick, tick.

Tick, tick, tick.

He was silent for a moment, before he spoke again.

"You're amazing, Takamachi-san. Truly amazing," he said softly. "That strength, that power...that determination...if you hadn't been the one who brought down my organization, I would have tried to recruit you."

He sounded sincerely disappointed.

"You would have been a valuable soldier indeed..."

A pause, and he smiled.

"Maa. I have to admit that you intrigue me. Few manage to do that, you know, let alone hold my interest for so long. And I wondered." His words were quiet and nostalgic. "I wondered what you would look like when your loved ones were in danger, how you would react if someone precious to you died..."

"I was positive you would look stunning."

He laughed quietly.

"And I was right. You were truly beautiful, Takamachi-san."

He studied her for a moment, and a full grin grew on his face.

"Especially now." His gaze roamed over her. "That cold, enchanting beauty..." He trailed off, voice softening in awe.

If she hadn't been numb, disgust would have filled her to the brim.

"...And knowing that I am the one who brought that expression on your face pleases me so much more, Takamachi-san," he murmured.

"You," Yuuno croaked out finally, voice harsh and hoarse, "are _sick_."

"Am I?" Takeru wondered. "Is it so strange, Scrya, to want to look at a woman in her best?"

Yuuno growled.

"Surely," the lazy drawl came, "you would have thought the same for this - " his hand reached up to carress strands of brown hair " - dear, dear girl of yours..."

"_Get your fucking hands off her_."

It was a snarl; a feral, dangerous snarl no one would have expected of a calm, rational Yuuno Scrya.

Takeru tsked, and his hand - _his dirty, filthy hand - _moved to caress her cheek. "Such possessiveness, Scrya? And here I thought you'd lost all fire - uh..ug...h.."

His eyes were suddenly wide. Unseeing. Filled with nausea.

Surprise flickered in Nanoha's blue eyes.

"I concur," a voice said coldly. "Do not touch her."

A shadow grew near Nanoha, and she glanced up.

Signum.

Takeru looked down, watching the hand - the green-garbed arm - that penetrated his middle and grabbed the remote from his shaking hand, before it disappeared back into his body, into oblivion, taking the remote along with it.

He dropped to the floor, to his knees, gasping for air. He clenched his shirt tightly, crumpling it.

"How careless of you to forget about us, Kisato."

Shamal's voice.

Cold, hardened voice.

There was nothing sweet in that tone now.

The brunette glanced further up, and saw the blonde floating in the air, along with Zafira.

...And Fate, in the blue guardian's arms.

A soft green glow was soaking into the lightning mage's skin.

Shamal's hand hovered over the blonde mage, her other holding the remote.

Nanoha stared.

Disbelief.

Hope.

"Payback time, bastard," snarled Vita; and the brunette snapped her head down to see the redhead slam her hammer into Takeru, throwing him into the wall at the far end - away from Hayate and Rein and Yuuno - and creating a five-inch indentation.

A sickening satisfaction filled her as he slumped to the ground, but even that was not enough to distract her.

Her gaze turned back to Zafira.

The figure in his arms.

Her mind whirled with emotions.

Words were forming at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't speak.

Her throat was locked, and she couldn't force the words out.

"...My apologies, Nanoha." Signum's voice was suddenly softer, and not as cold. "But to deceive him, I needed to deceive Testarossa and you."

A pause.

"I did not hit a vital spot."

The words repeated in her mind again and again.

But she didn't dare to believe them.

She couldn't.

Dare she hope and prepare to lose it, once more?

"She did, however, lose a lot of blood." Shamal's voice was gentle, and purple eyes regarded her kindly. "That was why she lost consciousness, and why her temperature lowered."

Despite herself, despite her resistance, hope was once more returning.

More emotions were evident on her face.

Takeru was forgotten.

His evil deeds, her anger, her despair, all were suddenly forgotten.

She flew up into the sky, hovering near Zafira.

Blue eyes watched Fate's calm, peaceful profile.

Threads of magic washed away stains of dark liquid slowly.

Her hand was shaking, and she reached out, before stopping.

The dried, caked blood on her hand made her freeze.

Blood.

There was...so much blood...

Hesitation filled her.

Fear.

Disbelief.

But color was returning to that face, under the soft green glow.

She could see the soft rise and fall of that chest.

Her hand moved.

Fingers grazed gently against that cheek.

Warmth.

She could feel the warmth.

Her vision was blurring.

Zafira offered the burden in his arms to her, and she blinked, glancing up at him.

His expression was stoic.

He nodded once, raising his hands a little.

Even before understanding grasped her, Raising Heart was faster.

"_Take her, Master._"

She could only blink in surprise and astonishment before Zafira thrust his hands out, bringing the sleeping mage closer to her.

Instinctively, her hands grasped the blonde.

Zafira gave no warning as he released Fate; and the brunette instantly tightened her hold by reflex, fear of dropping Fate gripping her strongly.

He regarded her silently, and she could only stare in surprise.

Then he flew downwards, towards the bed.

"It's over, you bastard," Vita growled, mere steps from the slumped man. Her hand gripped Eisen tightly.

"How...how did you..." he rasped out, struggling to stand.

"In all your obsession for Nanoha," Signum said coldly, "you had forgotten about Shamal and Zafira."

"Finding Hayate-chan was simple enough," the blonde knight said softly. "The only problems I had were penetrating the barrier you had set up around this room, and your position. Nanoha-chan destroying it was one thing..." she paused, gaze flickering over to Yuuno. "...And finding the angle to get the remote was another."

"You.." Takeru's gaze moved to Yuuno, surprise and astonishment all in there. In his voice, interestingly, was a hint of betrayal.

"Heh," Cold green eyes glared back at him. Morbid amusement, tinged with irony, was clear in his hoarse voice. "Me, indeed."

"Regret not killing him when you had the chance now, do you?" Vita mocked, and pointed her hammer at Takeru.

He stared at them all, eyes moving from one to another.

Then he sighed, back leaning against the wall.

"Ah, foiled again..." murmured the man. "I always seem to forget something when it reaches the most critical moment. First Testarossa-san, and now...the guardian knights. Even the man that I thought I had control over. How ironic.."

Zafira collected Hayate into his arms.

Signum opened the transparent box, scooping up Rein gently onto her palm, soaking her glove with water.

The unison device was motionless.

Her eyebrows creased.

"Any last words, you bastard?" Vita growled at the man before her.

He smiled. "Not at all. I'm satisfied. I've been prepared for my death since I executed this plan..." He glanced at the brunette hovering in the air.

Nanoha's grip on Fate tightened, and she glared at him coldly.

"...And watching Takamachi-san change so...enchantingly...was good enough." His words were soft and melancholic.

Slate blue eyes narrowed.

Anger was returning.

A dark, cold fury.

"I will tell all of you something as good as my compliments." He chuckled. "The one who released and recruited me...was none other than Lieutenant Regius himself. He has, as of now, taken control of the High Council...and is effectively the highest figure of TSAB."

A pause.

"So, guardian knights...do Testarossa-san and Takamachi-san know yet?" Takeru queried curiously. "About...all of you?"

Vita stiffened.

Nanoha heard the sharp intake of breath from Shamal, and confusion flickered in her gaze as she watched the blonde knight.

The hand that hovered over Fate was shaking.

He laughed quietly.

"I knew it. They don't know, do they?" asked Takeru, vindication soaring in his words. "They don't - "

"SHUT UP!" Vita's growl was dark and malicious.

"Heheh..." His laughter was growing louder, filled with amusement and irony. "Ahahahaha - "

The redhead snagged him by the collar, and threw him into another wall.

He grunted from the impact, coughing.

But he was smiling.

He was chuckling.

"You..." Vita approached him once more, her grip on Eisen tight and furious.

"I w-wonder how much...she will change, once more?" he murmured, hacking and coughing. "Once she finds out..."

"Shut up! SHUT UP!"

He laughed quietly. "A pity I won't be able to see it. Really...a pity."

"I'll kill you," Vita said dangerously. "_I'll kill you_."

Takeru snorted. "You should." His eyes closed. "Do not make the mistake of leaving me alive again, or you will pay...so very dearly."

"With pleasure," Vita snarled.

She swung her hammer.

Nanoha flinched, and looked away.

Shamal gestured for her to follow, floating down slowly.

The milk green light from her hand had yet to fade.

The brunette matched her pace reflexively, making sure the girl in her arms stayed under the light.

Their feet touched the floor; and Nanoha placed the lightning mage on the ground gently, hands still holding Fate protectively.

Shamal kneeled in front of her.

Blue eyes glanced at Vita.

Vita, who was breathing so hard, gripping Eisen with a shaking hand.

"Vita...chan...?" Confusion filled her voice.

The knight stiffened.

The redhead refused to meet her eyes, glaring at the floor.

Nanoha felt something so very terrible once more.

A dark, cold foreboding.

Shamal, in the meanwhile, glanced at Yuuno.

He just...gave her a weak smile, and shook his head, before coughing.

The blonde doctor felt the tears rolling down her cheeks, and shut her eyes briefly, _tightly_. Then she turned back to focus on the girl - _who was depending on her magic to even breathe right now_ - in front of her.

"Just a little more, Nanoha-chan..." murmured Shamal, her voice faint and pained and _crying_, and her eyes closed as she took in a deep breath.

The blonde knight focused on her spell, hand clutching loosely at her armor.

The blood that soaked the unbuttoned black shirt a darker shade was rapidly washed away, flaking to the floor with threads of soft magic.

And the wound...was quickly closing.

Too quickly.

Too quickly, for an injury that serious.

"Shamal...san?" Bewilderment.

The blonde knight's breathing was getting shallow.

The grip on that shirt tightened.

And the wound closed; a harsh, wide scar in its place.

The soft green light faded.

Signum was suddenly behind Shamal, holding her with one hand before she could fall.

"Shamal..?!"

Astonishment.

"...Gomen, Nanoha-chan..." whispered Shamal, breathing harsh. Purple eyes were hazy. "That scar on Fate-chan...I do not think it will fade, ever."

"That..." The brunette was suddenly at a loss for words.

"But she is safe...now..." The blonde knight smiled, kindly, _painfully_.

"What did you do?" Nanoha whispered, feeling something horrible, so very horrible, in the pit of her stomach.

"I...gave her my life."

Signum did not react.

Vita was trembling but silent.

Zafira had closed his eyes. He had squatted down, next to Yuuno, who seemed to focus on nothing else but the girl who was sleeping like an angel in the guardian's arms.

Nanoha breathed in sharply. "You...you didn't..."

But of course she had to.

Even if Signum did not pierce into the heart, a wound in that area would have made a hole in the lungs.

It could have caused lung paralysis.

Or had it?

Was Fate breathing when she laid her to rest on the ground?

The blonde had been still then.

So very still.

...And the amount of blood lost...

Even if she hadn't been dead, she would have been on the verge of death.

"You..." Her voice was shaky.

It was all starting to make sense.

The Wolkenreitter were not mere programs created with technology and magic.

They were classified Lost Logia technology, knights to the Book of Darkness which could have destroyed the whole world.

Powerful and filled with knowledge from thousands of years...

Of course it could have been possible that Shamal knew of a method to keep Fate alive, if she wasn't dead yet.

But at what cost?

What kind of cost?

_I gave her my life._

Her gaze snapped back to the pink-haired knight, whose cool mask revealed nothing.

"You planned all this?" She couldn't hide the sudden anger and despair that rose in her voice.

Fate was safe, but Shamal...Shamal was...

Her tone was hard and piercing and furious. "You planned to_ sacrifice _Shamal from the very beginning?"

Sky blue eyes regarded her calmly, silently.

It was Shamal who defended her leader. "I told her to."

"...What?" Her astonished, disbelieving gaze turned back to the doctor.

Then the figure in her arms stirred.

And she jerked her head down to stare.

A cough.

Hacking.

Blonde eyebrows furrowed.

Then glazed burgundy eyes opened to meet hers.

"...Na...noha..?" Hoarse, husky whisper.

Such a familiar voice.

Calm and gentle, with a tone uniquely _hers_.

Emotions warred in Nanoha.

Happiness and sadness, relief and despair.

"Fate-chan..."

Her vision blurred, tears dropping.

And she hugged her, so very tightly, not wanting to let go.

Deep maple eyes cleared, and confusion filled that voice.

"I..."

"Never again," Nanoha whispered fiercely, intensely; voice cracking and watery. "Never, _ever_ again...Fate.."

Her hold was shaking and almost suffocating, and the blonde instinctively reached out to comfort her, even as bewilderment entered her words.

"What..."

Her hand moved to touch the place where Lavaetein pierced her, only to feel a large, fiery scar instead of her formerly smooth skin.

"You did not seriously think I would kill you, did you, Testarossa?" A hint of irony was in Signum's voice.

"Signum..?" She tried to process those words. "But...wait, Nanoha's family and..."

Fate stopped when she saw Signum's blue eyes darken.

"He tricked you," scowled Vita.

"They..." She gripped the girl holding her - who was silent, too silent. "They are...dead?"

"...Yes."

A pause.

Anger was rising, mingled with sadness and despair.

"Where is he?" She nearly snarled, tone venomous and hard.

"Dead." Vita said curtly, resting Eisen on her shoulder.

There were stains of blood on the hammer.

The blonde was speechless.

She felt Nanoha's hands shake.

"Take it easy for the next few days, ne, Fate-chan?" Shamal's voice was cheerful but pained. "You lost a lot of blood, and you will need plenty of rest and fluid."

Burgundy eyes glanced at the blonde knight who breathed harshly, even as Nanoha loosened her hold, slowly.

"...Sha...mal?"

She watched the haggard breathing of the doctor.

Then realization dawned in red eyes.

"You didn't..!"

"She did," Signum's quiet voice said.

Her gaze darted to the pink-haired knight.

There was a smile on Shamal's face. "But...that's fine."

Fine?

That was fine?

Anger begun to fill her.

Confusion.

Astonishment.

And most of all, understanding.

But she didn't want to believe it.

Her throat was dry.

So very dry.

She could still taste the copper tang in her mouth, but it felt more bitter than salty.

"What...what is that..." Her words came out in a dry croak, and she couldn't continue.

"Our master...Mistress Hayate...is no longer here." Soft, calm words.

Nanoha stiffened.

"But she - "

"That's..." Eyebrows creased. "...only her body."

The brunette's gaze darted to Zafira. He had laid the girl on the floor, and he was -

She froze.

"Yuuno...kun..?"

Zafira was laying him down, too, next to Hayate.

The blond man was motionless.

"What...Zafira..what..why is he.."

Zafira glanced back at Nanoha, gaze calm and unreadable.

"Yuuno Scrya...has died."

Silence.

Then,

"No...no...no, no, no, _no!_" Nanoha's voice rose to a crescendo. "He can't - "

"Get yourself together!" The snap from Vita made her flinch.

Fate's grip on her tightened almost protectively, reassuringly, but it _did nothing_.

"He was well aware...that I have enough strength to save just one of you." Shamal said softly.

It was Fate or Yuuno.

"...And he chose death."

Nanoha went limp. "No..."

"Yes," Signum said, voice hard. "It is his decision. It is his life. It is his honor and pride at stake."

"Honor? Pride?" Nanoha laughed. She _laughed._ "_Don't fuck with me, Signum._"

"Nanoha," Fate tried to calm her down. She pushed everything else to the back of her mind, everything that threatened to overwhelm her. Right now, Nanoha was her focus.

The brunette didn't seem to notice.

"What use are they if he's dead? What use?" Anger, disbelief, sadness, everything was - _flooding_. "What - "

"And would he be able to live with himself if he survived?"

"We could help - "

"You could live if Fate died?" Signum's gaze flickered over to the blonde who stilled.

"I - "

Nanoha stopped.

Just as quickly, the flood stopped.

Her brain processed a blank.

Silence reigned.

Signum's voice softened then.

"It was either him or her." _And he couldn't live if Hayate died._

_Hypocrite._

"And he chose because he knew he would not be able to live with himself." She paused, then continued, voice hardening. "Because he knew he could not live with the guilt hanging over him."

"But - "

"Would you have preferred him to suffer for life?"

Nanoha couldn't answer that.

Defeat was written all over her face.

"What..." her fists clenched. "What was the point of this...mission? What.."

And then realization dawned in her blue eyes. "Hayate - what - what happened to her?"

"She's gone," Vita muttered, eyes dark. " She's been gone for two days."

Her hold on Fate shook.

"Then this mission...!"

"Ah. To save her." Signum paused.

_To release her_.

The unsaid words hung heavily in the air.

"H..." She had to force the words out of her throat. "Hayate-chan is..."

"Mistress Hayate's soul is no longer there. Only a body...a vegetable."

Signum glanced down, at Rein in her hand.

"...Likewise with her."

"We are the guardian knights who gather before our mistress." Zafira began. "She of the Night Sky."

"As long as our mistress exists," whispered Shamal, "our souls will never extinguish."

They remember those words.

Oaths said once upon a time, so many years ago...

"Even now, her linker core continues to provide us strength..." the blonde knight said quietly, "...But our master is no longer there."

"And we will release her," Vita said, harshly, intensely. "From this prison...safe from those _bastards_ who tried to manipulate her, safe from all threats in this damnable world..."

And suddenly the brunette understood. That was why Shamal did not hesitate to end her life to save Fate's.

That was why Yuuno willingly chose death.

Silence.

A long, heavy silence hung in the air.

Then Shamal's grip on her shirt tightened, and she was gasping for breath.

Signum spoke before either of them could react. "Can you stand, Testarossa?"

"...Ah." The blonde moved shakily, and Nanoha was quick to assist her.

"Leave this place, both of you." Shamal said softly, firmly.

"What - "

"Get out of here." Vita growled at them.

"We will destroy this building." Signum paused. "With every bit of our strength."

"But - "

"Testarossa."

Blue pierced into red.

"I kept my promise."

Signum promised to find them.

She did not promise to bring them back.

And it was Fate's turn to keep her end of the deal.

The blonde gritted her teeth, and bit her lip.

She felt a sharp pain, and blood dribbled to the side of her mouth.

But it was nothing compared to the coldness and agony building deep in her.

"Let's go, Nanoha," she said quietly, hoarsely.

Slate blue eyes turned back to her in astonishment and disbelief.

She ignored that accusing gaze.

"Bardiche."

Soft yellow light flickered, and her staff formed in her hand.

She held Nanoha close to her, mindless of the struggle, gripping tightly.

A bright magic circle grew underneath her.

"_Transfer coordinates: 432H 234J 32FU 2444 2341 134I 134V 1267._"

Nanoha tried to resist.

"How can you - !"

The blonde silenced her by crushing their lips together, forcing that mouth open and invading harshly.

Nanoha stood stock still for a moment, surprised and caught off-guard.

And that one moment was all Fate needed.

Her grip on Bardiche tightened so hard, so very painfully.

A flash of yellow.

And they were gone.

-o-

A/N:

Hi.

_-crickety chirp-_

Um...yeah. I know it's been four months. :D

Now, I'm pretty sure your responses will vary between disappointment, neutrality and joy...but I hope most, if not all, will come from the latter. Though I suppose it may be in a morbid way. Okay. Out with it. Who figured/guessed/hoped Fate didn't die?

I can only say I'm sorry if you're disappointed with the way things turned out, but this was, in fact, the only way I see things happening. If you're happy, however, good. :P

All these said and all...I hope it was a good chapter. The beta-ing for part I and II had also been completed, and various errors had been fixed. Do look forward to the finale, which will be posted...soon enough. It will not take four months this time.

And of course, reviews are most welcome. Might make me tempted to post the finale more quickly, as well. :P

Till then,  
Aki.


	7. VII

Posted: 07/09/2008

The finale is up. Wooo. Done at last. That said, I've a song for this chapter. _**And I am going as far as to demand that you get the song to hear while reading**_. Available at LJ, per usual.

And yes...enjoy the finale.

-o-

_**Resplendence of Ebony**  
Part VII_

_"Kimi Ga Tame,"  
- Suara, Utawarerumono._

_When reflected in your eyes, what color am I?_

_-o-_

Yuuno ran.

He ran like never before.

His hands were trembling, his footing was unsteady, his vision blurred with hot white flashes blinding him, and his breathing was ragged.

Hayate.

Where?

Where, where, _where - _

A door on his right.

He flung it open.

_Wrong_.

The room shrieked back at him and made him deaf, black smoke bursting out as if to engulf him and drag him into the darkness filled with the stench of blood.

He backed, stumbled, and _ran_.

Behind him, the world was falling apart, and he ran even _faster_.

He wanted to apologize. He _needed_ to apologize.

He wanted to crumble and just _drop_ and _beg_ for forgiveness, because he promised her _everything_ and gave her _nothing._

_"...I will get you out of here. I will." Words laced with desperation. He was running out of time._

The floor shook and he tripped.

_She smiled weakly, watching him fumble with the controls from the bed._

_And then her eyes closed._

He didn't stand up this time, inhaling air in gulps that threatened to make his lungs burst. Over. It was...over. He couldn't find her. No matter how many doors he approached, no matter how many turns he made in this goddamn tunnel...

_" - You will always find me, won't you?" Hayate's startled laugh warmed him, her brown hair ruffling gently with the wind under the red sky, and her blue eyes were bright and clear - _

He gritted his teeth and stood.

Behind him, the floor was crumbling rapidly.

Then he tripped again, and his glasses dropped to the floor.

His fists clenched.

And he pulled himself up, running before he could gain a steady footing.

Hayate.

Hayate.

_Hayate._

Another door.

He fisted the doorknob and pushed.

It didn't budge.

And somehow, he knew this was _the_ door.

He tried to force the door open.

_"Why bother?" _A cold voice cut through his conscience. "_You couldn't save her."_

His hands trembled, and he ignored that voice.

_"You were there. You watched her eyes close, never to wake up again." _A pause. _"Your attempts to save her were...pathetic."_

He slammed himself against the door, and his shoulder - his whole arm - throbbed with pain.

_"...And you planted the bomb in her."_

Yuuno stopped.

"I didn't want to!" He growled back into the darkness, mindless of the world that was falling apart; hurt, angry, and most of all, desperate. "I didn't - "

"_But you did."_

He _crumbled_.

Yes. Yes, he did.

He _failed_ her. Failed the girl he wanted so much to protect and whisk away to safety, and instead turned against her.

But even so.

Even so...he said he'd find her no matter what.

No matter what.

He stood, and slammed himself against the door again.

The voice prickled coldly in his mind, but he ignored it.

Then he noticed a clip by the door.

Hayate's hair clip.

His gaze darted to the doorknob.

There was a keyhole.

Yuuno grabbed the clip, all at once forgetting about that damned voice that killed him and would kill him _again_, and fumbled with the doorknob using the clip. All he could think of was Hayate and Hayate and _Hayate and - _

The door opened.

He stumbled inside, the clip dropping and disappearing into the darkness, and then he was suddenly crying, hot tears running down his cheeks even as he tried to suppress them.

"Hayate," his voice was cracked and relieved, "Hayate - "

The room was dark, as dark as the other rooms, black smoke threatening to suffocate him. But she was - she was...

Yuuno ran, faster than ever. He ran a track that seemed to go on forever, even when it was so much shorter that the tunnels. Then the girl turned, black feathers falling around her in a swirl of soft light; and eyes - eyes like the blue of the ocean and so unfailingly kind - she reached her hand out -

_I found you, I found you, __**I found you -**_

Then there was a light; a bright flash of white, and he was engulfed in it.

-o-

The hand that grasped Nanoha's wrist with a hold of steel and the arm that was wrapped around her waist tightly were unrelenting.

She could taste the coppery tang on her tongue.

The blood.

Fate's blood.

The kiss was hard and forceful and nearly, _painfully_, suffocating.

Not even the intense, violent sexthat day was like this.

For the first time in her life, she felt violated.

Cruelly and coldly violated.

She didn't want it.

She had no desire for it.

Not like this.

She struggled against the grip on her, and managed to wrench herself away.

Or was it Fate who let her go?

_cr-ack!_

Her palm stung.

The blonde's face was jerked to a side, cheek reddening.

Harsh breathing.

Furious blue glared into intense red.

The inside of her mouth felt raw, pleasantly and yet not.

"...How could you?" she whispered; pain, anger and betrayal all ringing so clearly in her voice. "_How could you_?"

Yellow hair shadowed those dark red eyes.

There was no answer.

The blonde did not meet her accusing glare, and instead turned to stare into distance.

She followed that gaze, and saw the ground headquarters; and it seemed so small, from where they were...

Large pink, blue and red orbs of light surrounded the building - the tall skyscraper that was quickly disintegrating, the sound of explosions so faint in her ears, carried by the soft wind.

It was much too far for her to try and reach them.

Even if she tried, even at her best speed...she would have been too late.

Then the three orbs of light began to fade.

Her hands shook, even as she stared.

_"Oi_."

A gruff voice resounded in her mind, and she blinked in surprise.

_"Vita?_"

Silence.

_"...Vita?"_ She could feel the presence. The redhead's presence.

It was strong, but fading.

Slowly fading.

Despair snaked around her.

And she clung to the contact desperately.

_"Vita! You - "_

_"Take care of my bunny."_ The curt words interrupted. "_I'm giving it to you."_

A sharp intake of breath.

_"...Don't...don't joke with me, Vita." _She felt herself trembling. _"Don't..."_

_"I don't kid, Nanoha."_

_"Then I don't want it! I don't want it! YOU come back and take it!" _

She could almost see a rueful smile on that face.

_"That so?" _A snort. _"Well, too bad, cause I'm making you take it."_

_"No. I won't. I WON'T! I - "_

_"Please."_

That made her jerk to a stop.

Vita never pleaded.

Never begged.

And the telepathic contact she held onto was fading more quickly now.

_"...Tch."_ A grunt from exertion. _"I can't hold my form any longer, Nanoha."_

_"No...no, no, no...don't..."_

_"Oh, shut up. Get your act together. You still have Fate there, don't you?"_

Her vision was blurring.

She barely noticed the dark, intense red eyes that were fixed on her.

_"...And don't die, you hear me?"_ Vita's tone was suddenly not as stern.

And softer.

Too soft.

Disappearing.

She couldn't stop the tears rolling down the cheeks.

She was suddenly cold, too cold, and she wrapped her trembling hands around herself.

As if Vita was next to her, she could hear the faint huff and sigh.

She could just..._see_ that little smirk, regretful and amused, on that face...

_"Crybaby," _the redhead teased, before grunting. _"Well, gotta go."_

A pause.

_"Bye."_

With just that, without waiting for a response, the link vanished.

Gone.

Strength faded from her legs, and she would have dropped to the floor, if it wasn't for Fate who grasped her, bringing them both to the floor gently.

A pair of hands held her tightly, and her face was buried into black fabric.

She resisted, struggled, tried to shake off that grip; but Fate didn't let go.

She could barely see anything with her blurred vision, barely feel the dull throb on her fists as she pounded against the blonde painfully in a vain try to make her let go.

Her breathing was ragged from exertion, from crying, from struggling.

Fatigue seeped into her arms, but she didn't stop.

It was the grunt of pain that the blonde let out which made her stop, made her stop hitting, made her stop struggling, made her limp in that warm - _cold_ - embrace; because it hurt to know Fate was hurting, it was painful to know that she was the one striking abuse on the person she wanted so much to protect, and yet..._and yet_...

_She_ was the one who allowed them to _die._

"Nanoha..."

A familiar, husky voice she loved _and hated right now_.

But the figure that held her was warm, so in contrast to what she felt.

She was cold, and she knew it wasn't the sunny weather.

She hated it.

Loathed this numbing feeling that filled her to the core.

Still, the girl who held her was warm.

But she wanted more.

Wanted to do away with the coldness that enveloped her.

She looked up to see dark, intense maple eyes, and pressed their lips together.

There was still the same faint coppery tang Nanoha tasted before. Blood..._her_ blood.

The kiss was hot and bruising and painful, and she craved more; because it wasn't kind nor was it loving, instead, it was hard, and it was the type that punished.

Her heartbeat picked up its speed, and she felt the familiar sensation of skin prickling from the after effects of teleportation, a hot, yellow flash penetrating her closed eyes; and she knew that they had been transferred to...somewhere else, again.

They were in some place considerably darker, some room bare and dilapidated, with a wooden, broken window and a dirty, old, white curtain hanging on it, fluttering gently with the soft wind, light flickering in every now and then.

Fate, she thought, had always been such a cautious person. So, so cautious...

The blonde broke off the kiss.

"Nanoha..." Soft, saddened voice..

Rust and silk.

That was how Fate's voice was like. A cross between harsh and tender, rough and smooth. It had been like that years ago, and it was the same even now.

But she didn't want to hear it, didn't want to listen to that voice that had always soothed her; because right now, all it did was intensify her emotions, emotions that she did not want to let stir _again_, and she was _crying_ for reasons that she _just didn't understand_, her heart clenching violently, her hands shaking, and Fate had enveloped her in another tight embrace.

She wanted to hate her.

But she couldn't.

She didn't want to be in love with her.

But she was.

-o-

The blonde had stirred when she heard the door shut loudly.

Her middle - where Signum had pierced and left a reminder of what happened - was throbbing.

She heard the faint, raspy, _painful_ breathing that was not hers.

Nanoha's.

She sprang awake instantly - flinched at the sharp pain she felt - and her gaze darted towards the source; even as dizziness and headaches attacked her from lack of blood.

"Na..noha?" She tried to focus on that blurry figure, grimacing.

Nanoha was leaning against the door, and her eyes stared blankly at her shaking hands.

There were no visible wounds on her.

So, why...

"...Nanoha?"

Slate blue snapped up to look at her.

That gaze was hollow, cold, horrified..._disgusted_.

A look that Fate recognized all too well.

"I..." Hoarse words, filled with disbelief. "I...killed..."

She was slumping to the floor, her eyes turning back to her shaking hands.

"I..."

Fate stood - wavered from the dizziness and nausea she felt - and collected Nanoha into her arms.

"I...how could I have forgotten..." That voice was soft and shaking. "When I thought you died, I just...I just..."

"It's not your fault," her tone was sharp, too sharp, and Nanoha flinched involuntarily.

The brunette shook her head vehemently. "I - I...I killed..."

"They did this," Fate said, tone dark, hard, _furious_, "Not you. _Not you_."

Shaky fingers fisted in on her sleeves, and slate blue eyes, so vulnerable and unsure - like a small child, the blonde had thought - stared back up into her intense ones.

Fate brushed stray brown hair away from her tear-soaked cheek.

"Not you, Nanoha..." Her voice softened; gentle, and so pathetically kind that she could hate herself for it, "Never you. Them. They did this. They did this...to us."

"Them..." Nanoha echoed, quietly, as if tasting the sound of that word on her lips.

Fate felt her sleeves crumple further when those fists tightened.

"...Them." The brunette repeated again, with a tone so soft she could barely hear it.

But there was an underlying hatred beneath it. A hatred so strong and dark and cold, enough to send a chill down her spine - but that was if, and only if, she had not felt the same...about TSAB.

The bureau that she...they...had once been so loyal to...

-o-

So how did it come to this?

She swung her weapon almost carelessly, and felt the slicing of flesh through Bardiche.

Blood splattered onto her cheek, and she could almost hear the silent scream from that destroyed throat, before that mage fell and stayed still.

Burgundy eyes regarded the growing puddle of blood for a moment, studied the frozen fear and pain on that dead body, and waited.

Waited for disgust to fill her, horrification to take over, regret to overwhelm her.

She waited for one full minute.

But there was nothing.

Her mind remained clear and concise, her hands weren't shaking, her heart wasn't pounding uncomfortably.

If there was anything she felt, anything at all, it was a hint of amusement.

_Ah_, she thought, looking at the fallen figure, a flicker of a smile on her face. _How the mighty have__fallen..._

A bragging coward hiding behind his underlings, who met his demise in her hands.

The blonde turned, and left the room in search of her significant other.

It wasn't hard, not at all.

Though she did know Nanoha's current location, which was the conference room, there was no need to use the knowledge to find her - because all she had to do was follow the sound of the loud noises.

The sight that she beheld almost made her sigh.

Here the other was, a large magic circle beneath her, eyes closed, hands spread out as if offering herself to the non-existent gods above, pink balls of light speeding around her. Raising Heart gleamed brightly, held loosely with a thumb curled over the stick.

Brown hair ruffled with the wind that roared to life from the explosions.

Fate would have preferred to finish things quietly.

Nanoha tended to end things with a bang.

A smile was twitching on that face, left eyebrow raised slightly.

The brunette had already noticed her, hadn't she?

And yet, Nanoha remained still.

_Still wants to play, does she?_

Lightning crackled around Fate's open palm, before twisting her hand around, the bolt now thrown up into the sky.

Her aim was true, a figure hiding in illusions dropping to the floor painfully, electricity sparking around him for the briefest instant.

He was a bare few steps from where Nanoha was.

Slate blue eyes opened and blinked at her amidst speeding spheres of pink lights, cracking walls, and falling mages.

Fate's only response was to cross her hands as she leaned against the doorway, white cloak moving gently despite the harsh wind, blades of golden hair dancing in a haphazard sort of a manner.

There was an almost apologetic look on Nanoha's face before she closed her eyes again.

And the spheres of light sped faster than before, slamming into targets all around; walls cracked, explosions rung in her ears, and the wind picked up its speed.

A little smile, cold and cruel and mischievous, curled on the brunette's lips.

_Ah_, Fate suddenly understood. _She was waiting for me_.

Dark hazel hair flew haphazardly, stray locks tickling Nanoha's cheek and neck, and the blonde felt a sudden itch to brush them away.

But she didn't move, half-wary and half-amused; because no one could tell what Nanoha was planning when she had that smile on her face.

The pink spheres of light sped even faster, and then, all so suddenly, silence filled the air, seemingly louder than the noise Nanoha had created moments ago.

Burgundy eyes glanced over her surroundings.

A very thorough job, she thought, her impassive gaze studying the fallen soldiers and mages, growing puddles of blood, and walls and floor littered with huge craters.

That did not answer her question, however.

Why was Nanoha waiting for her?

The brunette turned on her heel and walked over to the podium then, slowly, shoes clicking gently across the pavement and over pools of blood, imprinting the floor with crimson boot marks.

Fate followed this time, even if she chose to tread across the floor littered with corpses carefully.

"...Won't you come out now, General?" Nanoha asked, softly, and yet, her voice seemed loud enough to echo through the quiet conference room.

Click.

Clack.

Click.

Clack.

"Or do you still have more soldiers to spare?"

The tapping feet stopped, Nanoha now some bare steps from the raised podium.

Fate stopped as well.

Silence.

And then he appeared, standing up slowly from his hiding place at the platform, hands raised, face white.

He was shaking. Very badly, too.

"So the prince shows himself," murmured Nanoha.

"I - I'll do anything you want, so please - I - "

"Anything I want?" Nanoha raised her eyebrows.

There was absolute _delight_ in that voice.

"Y-yes!" He nodded his head feverishly. "So please - "

"Okay," the brunette said cheerfully. She raised a finger towards him. "Come here."

And suddenly, bright pink rings clasped around his wrists and ankles; he floated in the air, moving towards her against his will, and his complexion paled further.

"S-spare me! Please!"

He was in front of her now, feet touching the floor lightly, half a head taller than her. But his hands and legs were still locked, and he was frozen stiff with fear.

Blue eyes inspected his face curiously, and her fingers brushed jet black hair away from his forehead gently.

Fate felt a jaw muscle in her cheek move.

"You're...actually pretty cute." Nanoha murmured, as if oblivious to the blonde who was behind her. "And young, to have this high a rank in the bureau..."

"I don't know anything!" He shook his head vigorously. "I - I'm just..." He faltered.

"A decoration?" supplied the brunette.

Decorations. High-ranked soldiers with no power.

Puppets.

He looked down and did not answer.

She chuckled, patting his cheek lightly. "So you do have some pride in you, General."

"Just...just spare me, please..." he whimpered.

Nanoha hummed a little tune. "I will think about it." She paused. "But you _are_ a cute one, aren't you?"

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and stared at her, torn between fearful and giving her a look saying she had grown three heads.

"I like cute guys," informed Nanoha.

Blue eyes darted back to Fate for the briefest instant.

"...And girls."

The blonde remained still and impassive.

Nanoha stood on her tiptoes then, a hand brushing past his cheek to curl around the neck, lips closing in on him.

"Would you like a kiss, General?" The brunette asked, softly, some bare centimeters from his face.

He stuttered incomprehensible words, face red

Fate's grip on Bardiche tightened a fraction, eyebrows narrowing slightly.

Nanoha laughed, then, and stepped back, gloved fingers ruffling black hair lightly before removing her hand.

"I'm afraid I can't give you your farewell gift, General." Raising Heart was pressed to his chest. "Someone doesn't seem to like it."

He had only a moment to look astonished.

And then the rings around his wrists and ankles disappeared, and he dropped to the floor.

He was motionless.

The blonde strode forward then, this time ignoring the puddles of blood that she stepped on, and yanked Nanoha towards her.

Nanoha didn't resist; there was a possessive arm around her waist, and dark, _dark_ burgundy eyes were glaring at her.

Slate blue eyes, unafraid, stared back with equal intensity.

The brunette had the nerve to continue, amused and almost laughing. "Jealous?"

"What do you think?"

"You tell me."

"I think you know."

"No, I don't kn - "

Fate crushed their lips together.

-o-

_"You are cruel."_

_"People change, Fate-chan."_

_"Must you tease me so with that soldier?"_

_Soft laughter._

_"But you like it, don't you?"_

_"Like what?"_

_"Me being cruel. To you."_

-o-

Nanoha was her damnation.

-o-

_"You're cruel too, you know."_

_"...Am I, now?"_

_"Mm."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because you are too kind, Fate-chan."_

-o-

Fate wasn't her salvation.

-o-

_"Stupid, stupid, stupid - !"_

_"Fate - "_

_She slammed a fist into the wall next to her head._

_The wall cracked, and she felt the dull throb on her skin._

_"One wrong step," she snarled, "just one wrong step - "_

_"And I could have died?"_

_Silence._

_Nanoha grasped her hand, fingers brushing over reddened knuckles._

_She felt the tension in her shoulders fade despite herself._

_"Yes," she said, voice quiet. Hard. "Yes, you could have."_

_Nanoha laughed, softly. Coldly._

_But the smile on that face was kind, and so unbelievably gentle._

_"Are we even living, Fate-chan?"_

_Red eyes darkened._

_Fingers curled around her own._

_"I have told you before, Nanoha."_

_Their gazes met._

_"Told me what?"_

_"If you die, I will die."_

_The smile on those lips grew a fraction._

_"Does the other way around hold true, Fate-chan?"_

_A pause._

_"You tell me, Nanoha."_

_Nanoha laughed, softly, and pressed her lips against Fate's._

_She stood on tiptoes, and her hands curled around the other._

_Neither spoke for a long while._

_That was her answer._

_Their answer._

-o-

Black and white.

Yin and Yang.

One cannot exist without the other.

One will not have a meaning without its counterpart.

If there is no evil, there is no good.

If there is no kindness, there is no cruelty.

They didn't hate each other then, but they do, now.

What is the exact opposite of hate, though?

-o-

_Flesh against flesh. _

_Marking. Scarring. Branding._

_The air was warm._

_The room was dark, lit only by the soft moonlight from the window._

_"...Sometimes, it still hurts. I wonder why?"_

_She paused._

_"Your hand, you mean?"_

_Fingers trailed over the rough line running along her arm._

_"Strange, isn't it?"_

_"I guess that makes two of us."_

_"Strange that my hand is throbbing, or strange that your middle is hurting too?"_

_Lips brushed over the small bump that had the width of a sword._

_Blue pierced into red._

_The other smiled a ghost of a smile._

_It was familiar and warm, sad and joyful, defeated and triumphant._

_A white soft toy, with long, pointed ears that lopsided, watched from where it sat on the table._

_Moonlight soaked into its fur, making it glow a soft blue. Its head was tilted slightly, with oddly shaped teeth._

_And its eyes, each__a comical red oval shape, was the sole, silent spectator in that room._

_"...Both, Nanoha."_

-o-

They saved each other.

They killed each other.

-o-

_Resplendence of Ebony_  
© _2007-2008 Eagle8819__._

_Did you know white is just a shade of black?_

_

* * *

_

A/N:

It's done. It's really done.

This project took far longer than I had expected it to. It would have been finished in March, but then I had to go pick on _part V _to tweak it.. _-muses-_ And consequently, it was what delayed _part VI_.

1) The addition of Yuuno was what caused it. Previously, I was ready to mark him off as dead. But then I decided it would be just too..._easy_, if Yuuno were to die just like that. Takeru was a man that...well, that lives off on people's pain. Literally.

So. Yes. Yuuno goes back into the equation.

There are two reasons as to why it took so long to edit _Part VI_. One, Yuuno is a shallow character. I know he has depth, but lack of screentime tend to do wonders in making him a wildcard in character. Two, I'm not all that good when it comes to creating facets of a person, and I will admit that my reluctance in writing Yuuno (and Hayate) comes from the fact I dislike characters that go OOC.

Still. The four months wait aside, I'm actually glad I _did_ add Yuuno. One is because his presence smoothed out the flow for _part VI_. Two is because it made the basis of Shamal getting the remote nothing but stronger. And three...well, I can tell you that Nanoha cursing was definitely _not_ originally in the chapter.

2) At risk of ego-inflation, I am going to say I'm proud. RoE is the sole multi-chaptered fiction that I've really completed - and I mean in terms of longer than three chapters. This fic, while originally intended to be a one-shot depicting Fate's pain from losing Arf, became something far more...complicated. This story was definitely not something I ever imagined I could create. And judging from the number of comments that remarked on how well-planned this is, I think it may surprise many of you to find out that there was little to no planning for this fic, right up to the end. Merely a work of a whim, if nothing else. (And see, this is why I can't do long fics. I work well on inspiration, but fail miserably on plotted fics..)

3) Q and A session of...stuff that had been asked of me, and of things I think some of you may ask. Any future questions will be answered privately via pm or equivalent.

Q: Interested in Yuuno/Hayate?  
A: Short answer, no. Long answer, I paired them up because I wanted to get a feel of how (and if) the pairing will work, and why. Though the first scene of this finale was a work of sudden (morbid) inspiration, it did, however, tell me that it _could_ work, and would not be there just for the sake of...what was that word for it?...ah, yes. For the sake of _completion_. Note my sarcasm. That said, I also wanted to work on their characters a bit. So.

Q: No rambling on NanoFate in your last A/N? Blasphemy! D:  
A: ...I'm sorry, but the pairing in this fiction is really kind of...self-explainatory. I thought, hard and long, if there would be anything I want to say about this pairing but...I came up with a blank. They are really just...too similar and different. And the above scenes pretty much conveyed things I wanted to...say. Sometimes when things break, there's just no mending anymore.

Q: So RoE is really a prequel to _Ode to Darkness _and not just a reference of sort? (mentioned at the beginning of _part I_)|  
A: Mmm...I would love to say yes, but that would probably mean tweaking OtD. I say 'probably', because I will have to speculate for very long to locate inconsistencies between RoE and OtD. One that I'm far too lazy to do. But on the whole, yes, it is a prequel.

Q: Any plans to do a follow up story with Nanoha and Fate as wanted criminals (aka continuation of _Ode to Darkness_)?  
A: I wanted to. Seriously. But no. My brain will fry before I could think of a plot that works. And I'm not a good plotter. As for Regius...well, I'll have to say he's just a randomly picked mastermind. ;p

Q: How about prequel(s)?  
A: ...Isn't _White Devil _a prequel already? :P Though...well. I've noted this in my LJ before, but I'm still thinking about it. What I had in mind was a collection of one-shots/scenes before the events in RoE; such as their high school life, friendship, comradeship, romance, military, etc...as well as hints leading up to RoE. It's a big IF, though. I don't even have any ideas at the moment. Suggestions welcome.

Q: How could you kill them all..? -_emo moment-_  
A: Cause I'm evil.

Q: Takeru?  
A: Your favorite villian, truly. When I first created this char, my only goal was to make him as evil as possible. I'm not a big fan of OC characters, but I do get that it's the only way things will work sometimes. And I did achieve my goal. Though I suppose that, in the process, he has become a character that can be...related to, somewhat... _-glances at the massive killing aura from readers-_ ...Yeah. I think I did an excellent job. 8D

Q: ...Why all the angst?  
A: Because it wins.

Q: Any last words?  
A: Yep. It was...an interesting experience to write this. This piece of fiction bore witness to the events that happened to me (and around me) during this one year. I've gained many things. I've also lost a good number of things. Some are related to this fandom, some not. They aren't all good, but not all of them are bad either. It was..._-pauses-_...memorable. A somewhat bittersweet memory. But not something I'm likely to forget, unless if I'm old and wrinkly.

That said...I'd like to give a big thanks to my beta, Rae, who worked on the fic and prodded me despite my complaints and laziness, and to the readers. Yes, you. Thank you for keeping track of this story even when things seemed so bleak. Thank you for reviewing, and more importantly, thank you for reading. I hope it was an enjoyable trip - even if angsty - and hopefully the finale left a good closure for this fic.

And...that is all.

End of session.

Ja.

_Start of Project: September 07, 2007  
Completion of Project: August 20, 2008  
First Posted: September 26, 2007  
__Final Released: September 07, 2008_

_Total Word Count: 23, 109 (excluding A/N; 100 pages in Word)_


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